Primal Scream keyboardist Martin Duffy’s son Louie paid tribute to his father and said in a statement that his death was due to financial difficulties, specifically the £5 million deal he was cut out of to sell part of the band’s back catalogue. Louie said:
“Dad had played on every Primal Scream album – had songwriting on at least two – but still the band chose not to offer him the opportunity to get his share, at a time they knew he really needed financial help.
He wasn’t consulted or even told about it. I remember dad telling [frontman] Bobby Gillespie on the phone that he was having to sign on for benefits to get by as he had no savings, but the band offered no support either emotional or financial.”
The keyboardist passed away at 55 last December from a brain injury following a fall at his home in Brighton. Even though Louie knew that his father’s financial situation wasn’t the only problem, the remaining members of the band could have shown support. He added:
“I am well aware that financial reward may not have saved Dad from himself – we will never know. But I do know that while the band was reaping the rewards from touring ‘Screamadelica,’ a classic British album, he was having to live month to month – just being paid session fees for performing it – when in fact, he had played such an important part in creating it. I know Dad found this really insulting and not right. His 30 years of loyalty to Primal Scream was never repaid.”
According to the inquest, Duffy was also diagnosed with prostate cancer during lockdown and suffered from issues with alcohol. It seems that this came following a gig in Glasgow when the keyboardist was ‘forced’ to leave the lineup due to his struggle with alcohol and not being allowed to return to play until he had it under control.
You can read the written statement from the inquest, and what Duffy’s son Louie said here.
