PAUL KOSSOFFPaul Kossoff, best known as the bluesy, soulful guitarist from 1970s band Free, died on 19 March, 1976, aged just 25.Mr Kossoff’s band produced one of the biggest rock anthems of the 20th century in All Right Now.This track and the album it was taken from – Fire and Water – propelled the group to rock stardom.Born the son of British actor David Kossoff, he was not one to shy away from the showbiz lifestyle and picked up the guitar at a young age.By his mid teens he was playing in the band Black Cat Bones alongside drummer Simon Kirk and supporting the likes of Fleetwood Mac.Wielding his Les Paul Gibson and aged just 17, he and Kirk teamed up with singer Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser and formed Free.It wasn’t until the band’s third album – 1968's Tons of Sobs and 1969's Free received muted acclaim – that the band became household names and were propelled into the big time.Response to the fourth album Highway, however, was once again minimal and the band broke up and, briefly, pursued other projects.The lure of the limelight was too much to bear and in 1972 the quartet got back together, albeit briefly, and recorded the album Free at Last.Kossoff’s drug problem, however, was all too apparent, leading Fraser to quit the band and rendering Kossoff unable to tour their final album, Heartbreaker, in 1973.Free were finally finished for good, but, despite his addiction and increasingly poor health, Mr Kossoff swiftly produced two albums as Back Street Crawler and continued to play until tragedy struck.In 1975 his heart stopped while at a drug rehab clinic, although he was revived. Less than a year later, while flying between Los Angeles and New York Mr Kossoff suffered the heart attack which killed him.Despite his tender years Mr Kossoff and Free had attracted a loyal fanbase and several posthumous works were released.During his career he gained the respect of many big names and often worked as a session musician for many of the big names of the day.
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