| Birth: | Apr. 27, 1947 | | Death: | Apr. 24, 1975 | 
Musician. Peter William Ham was born in the Townhill district of Swansea, South Wales. He was given his first guitar for Christmas 1959, and soon began to play with various local groups, before forming The Iveys with Mike Gibbins, Ron Griffiths and Dai Jenkins. They moved to London and, in 1968, became the first band to be signed by The Beatles' Apple Records. Their first single, "Maybe Tomorrow" was a hit on the Continent, but not in Great Britain, and Ham and Gibbins formed a new band, Badfinger, with two Liverpudlians, Tom Evans and Joey Molland. They were asked to write and perform the music for the film, "The Magic Christian", starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. One song from the soundtrack, "Come and Get It", written not by the band but by Paul McCartney, was released as a single and became a Top Ten hit in both Britain and America. Other hits, written this time by the band, folowed, notably "No Matter What" and "Day After Day", and, in 1972, Ham and Evans' composition "Without You" was covered by Harry Nilsson and reached Number One on both sides of the Atlantic; a feat repeated in 1992 when Mariah Carey recorded the song. In 1974, Badfinger transferred to Warner Brothers Records and released what many consider to be their finest album, "Wish You Were Here", a year before the Pink Floyd record of the same name. However, at about the same time, a large sum of money went missing from their account, and the record was withdrawn from circulation only days after its release. Pete Ham was living with a lady named Anne Ferguson, who already had a son, named Blair. They were expecting a child together, but such was the disarray of the band's finances (a situation which many blame on their manager, Stan Polley) that Ham was unable to pay the mortgage instalments on his new house in Surrey. On the morning of April 24th. 1975, he was found by Anne, having hanged himself in his garage. A note left behind read : "Anne, I love you. Blair, I love you. I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. This is better. Pete. P.S. Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. I will take him with me." (bio by: Iain MacFarlaine)
Cause of death: Suicide by hanging
Search Amazon for Pete Ham | | | Burial:
Morriston Cemetery
Swansea
Swansea, Wales |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Iain MacFarlaine
Record added: May 20, 2003
Find A Grave Memorial# 7471112 |
|
|
|
Added by:
Ron Moody
| | | Photos may be scaled.
Click on image for full size. | |
|
|
Pete it was so wondeful to meet your brother and then your lovely daughter Petera at your Blue Plaque ceremony in Swansea on 27 April 2013. The tribute concert that night of your music was spectaular. Surely you are smily knowing you are missed and very l...(Read more)
-
montydaman
Added: May. 16, 2013 |
-
J Spencer
Added: May. 1, 2013 |
Happy Birthday Pete! This world was too painful for a kind soul like you. You, Tom, and Mike must be jamming out with the angels. God Bless you and your family always. See you in Heaven.Hugs.
-
Melissas sis
Added: Apr. 29, 2013 |
| There are 436 more notes not showing...
Click here to view all notes...
| |
|
Do you have a photo to add? Click here |
(4.3 after 112 votes)