Who was Herbie Flowers? Tributes pour in as prolific Bassist for Bowie, Elton, Reed, Beatles, & more dies aged 86

Musician Herbie Flowers has recently passed away at the age of 86 (Representative image via Unsplash/Evgeny Ndn)

Well-known musician Herbie Flowers, 86, passed away on September 5, 2024. The artist gained recognition for his collaborations with many popular faces, such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Elton John, alongside bands such as the Beatles. He even pursued a separate solo career and was an expert in instruments such as bass guitar and double bass.

The news of Herbie's demise was first announced by Kevin J Conklin, the husband of Flowers' niece Lorraine Bassett. Kevin praised Herbie's contributions to the music industry in a Facebook post on September 6, mentioning the names of those Flowers worked with throughout his career. He further stated:

"Herbie's musical contributions continued as he worked to involve children in music later in life. Herbie played a huge role in Lorraine's life as a substitute father. Herbie walked her down the aisle at our wedding. She loved him dearly. I was blessed to have known him. We'll miss you Uncle Herbie! Rock on."

A post was also made on David Bowie's Facebook page, on September 7, to express grief over Herbie Flowers' death, which read:

"His work with Bowie and associates over the years is too long to list here. Aside from his incredible musicianship over many decades, he was a beautiful soul and a very funny man. He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his family and friends."

On the other hand, the comments section of Kevin's post was flooded with tributes from the public, who sent their prayers to Herbie Flowers' family. Others recalled the memories they shared with Flowers when they met him a long time ago.

Online tributes (Image via Facebook/Kevin J Conklin)

Herbie Flowers released a few solo albums in his successful career over the years

The Isleworth, Middlesex native collaborated with artists like David Bowie, Sam Brown, Roger Daltrey, and more. He also released four albums in his solo career, including Plant Life, A Little Potty, Herbie's Stuff, and A Jazz Breakfast.

He even gained recognition as a member of the pop group Blue Mink. The band was active for only eight years and released 11 albums alongside singles like Good Morning Freedom. He later established a community choir of 150 members called Shoreham Singers-by-Sea.

In an interview with Saga in 2012, Herbie Flowers addressed his success by saying:

"I'm just a freelance bass player, I couldn't begin to go into details about Lou Reed's or David Bowie's or John William's private life… over the years about 1% of what I've done has made money or held its artistic value. The rest makes my toes curl up. I'm not a very good bass player."

Notably, Flowers is credited for creating the initial bassline of the single Walk on the Wild Side, which was released by Lou Reed. The song was also added to Reed's 1972 album Transformer, which was included in the lists of different publications like The Guardian.

Herbie Flowers said during his conversation with Saga that most of the musicians were able to pursue a successful career only through "military or brass bands" at the time when he entered the industry. Flowers recalled the days when there were no television and video games and continued:

"When I was called up, I snatched the chance to play tuba. Then to qualify as a corporal you had to have a second instrument and the natural double for a tuba player is the double bass, and the natural thing for a double bass player is to double again on electric bass."

Apart from all these, Herbie Flowers was employed at the Ardingly College, where he taught bass guitar. He was also featured in the British TV show Marc, which aired for one season in 1977.

Edited by Gayatri Chivukula