Ian McLagan

McLagan first started playing keyboards at the age of seven after his mother purchased an upright piano; one of his first appearances was in a group entitled ‘the Blue Men’ in which he played rhythm guitar. McLagan was educated at Spring Grove Grammar School, Isleworth, and the Twickenham College of Technology and School of Art. He quit his study of art to focus on music.

McLagan entered the music game in London in 1963, and you can read all about it in his recently reprinted memoir, All The Rage, a book that The Express hailed as “One of the best music books in years.” He ascended from the Small Faces to the pinnacle of rock with the Faces when Rod Stewart and Ron Wood joined the band.

The rollicking Faces ruled 1970s album, radio and sales charts as well as the stadiums, arenas and festivals around the world, leaving countless satisfied fans, many wild tales and more than a few quivering hotel managers in their wake.

FOW1)MacBIO

He most recently spent his time creating splendid and genuine rock’n’roll with his Bump Band, as well as musically aiding and abetting a marquee line-up of truly blue ribbon talent, that he has toured and/or recorded with: The Rolling Stones, Bobbie Womack, Bonnie Raitt, New Barbarians, Bob Dylan, David Lindley, Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, Paul Westerberg, John Hiatt, Billy Bragg, Keith Richards, Patty Griffin, Warren Haynes, Jennifer Nettles and Lucinda Williams, to name just some of the notables that McLagan has worked with over his five decade career.

He has also etched his distinctive musical talents onto the playlist of rock’n’roll history, co-writing such Faces hits as Cindy Incidentally, You’re So Rude, Bad’n’Ruin and Three Button Hand Me Down.

His distinctive Wurlitzer electric piano is heard on everything from Stay With Me by the Faces to the smash hit Miss You by The Rolling Stones, and Mac’s trademark Hammond B-3 organ is featured on the Small Faces classic Itchycoo Park and Rod Stewart’s Maggie May and You Wear It Well.

McLagan played piano on the studio side of the 1972 album The London Chuck Berry Sessions. After the Faces split up in 1975, McLagan worked as a sideman for the Rolling Stones, both in the studio (Some Girls including electric piano on “Miss You”), on tour and on various Ronnie Wood projects, including the New Barbarians. In addition, his session work has backed such artists as Chuck Berry, Jackson Browne, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, James McMurtry, Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Westerberg, Izzy Stradlin, John Hiatt, Frank Black, Nikki Sudden, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, Tony Scalzo, Carla Olson, Mick Taylor, and Georgia Satellites. He played Hammond B3 organ on Mary Gauthier’s 2005 album, Mercy Now.

McLagan played keyboards in the band that backed Bob Dylan on his 1984 joint European tour with Santana. Also playing in that band were Mick Taylor, Colin Allen and Gregg Sutton. He was a member of Billy Bragg’s band “The Blokes” for several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, co-writing and performing on the 2002 England, Half-English album and tour.

Ian McLagan, live

Mac, Kenney & Ronnie, 2010

Mac, Ronnie & Kenney, 2011

In 2009, McLagan joined the James McMurtry band on tour in Europe. In September 2010, at Stubbs in Austin, Texas, McLagan joined The Black Crowes on keyboards and vocals for their encore set. The set included two Faces songs, “You’re So Rude” and “Glad and Sorry”. In 2013, he appeared with the Warren Haynes band at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas, playing piano on one number and organ on the other. In 2014, McLagan was a founding member of the Empty Hearts. The group recorded on 429 Records and McLagan’s bandmates included Blondie drummer Clem Burke, the Chesterfield Kings’ bassist Andy Babiuk, the Cars’ guitarist Elliot Easton, and the Romantics’ guitarist and vocalist Wally Palmar.

McLagan is featured prominently on the Lucinda Williams double album Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, which was released 30 September 2014 on her own label, Highway 20 Records. He also features prominently on Scunthorpe duo Ruen Brothers’ debut album All My Shades Of Blue, released in June 2018 via Ramseur Records. McLagan recorded his parts shortly before his death. It was produced by Rick Rubin. Other notable musicians on the album were Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dave Keuning from the Killers.

The band Drivin’ N Cryin’ released a tribute to Ian Mclagan on their 2019 album Live The Love Beautiful with a song entitled “Ian Mclagan”.

McLagan was married from 1968 to 1972 to Sandy Sergeant, a dancer on the television show Ready Steady Go!, with whom he had a son, Lee. McLagan then developed a relationship with Kim Kerrigan, the estranged wife of Keith Moon, drummer of the Who. She divorced Moon and she and her daughter Amanda (from her marriage to Moon) moved in with McLagan. McLagan and Kerrigan were married in 1978, one month after Moon died at the age of 32. Kerrigan died in a traffic accident near their home in Austin, Texas, on 2 August 2006, aged 57.

McLagan died of a stroke on 3 December 2014 aged 69, at University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin.

Whether McLagan was singing, writing, and playing his own music, or as the go-to guy for a session or tour, he has been and remains, the quintessence of rock’n’roll.