Who were the members of The Chills? All about the band as founder Martin Phillipps dies aged 61

Martin Phillips, who was a guitarist of the rock band The Chills, unexpectedly passed away on July 28, 2024, at the age of 61. The news was also confirmed by the group on social media and detailed information about the cause of death is yet to be revealed.

The lineup of the band members went through a lot of changes over the years. Phillips was a part of them since the 80s and continued performing with them until his demise. Apart from him, the first lineup also included Rachel Phillips, Peter Gutteridge, Jane Dodd, and Alan Haig.

Notably, The Chills shared a statement through their official social media pages on Sunday, July 28, saying that Martin's family is currently requesting privacy. In a separate post the following day, the band wrote:

"Martins funeral will be held Friday 9 August at 2pm at Hope and Sons Dunedin, followed by a private cremation. The funeral will be live-streamed with details to follow. Thank you all for your kind messages."

Social media platforms were also flooded with tributes as soon as the news of Martin's death went viral. Most of them recalled Phillips' flawless work throughout his career and his friends revealed more details on how they developed a close relationship with him. Musician Labretta Suede wrote on Facebook:

"Marty & I spoke every few weeks for years. Last message was just two weeks ago. So I knew he was going thru a few health issues. He was tremendously sweet & was the one to initiate our friendship. Who knew Martin Phillips was such a big Labretta fan? Truly flattering even to this day."

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The Chills delivered multiple hit projects throughout their career

The Dunedin, South Island-based group was established by Martin Phillips in 1980, and although the initial lineup managed to deliver a few successful songs, a few of them decided to pursue a solo career. Among their long list of projects, Heavenly Pop Hit contributed to bringing a lot of popularity for them.

As mentioned, The Chill's members kept on changing for different reasons. While a few of them passed away from health problems, others decided to serve in other groups or work on their respective solo careers.

Although their debut album Brave Worlds came in 1987, it was the group's second album Submarine Bells that brought them into the spotlight. The latter had 12 songs in the soundtrack and Heavenly Pop Hit was the most successful one among all the singles. While speaking to Culture Sonar in 2022, Phillips opened up about the track by saying:

"It was trying to do something big and beautiful that wasn't lightweight. That had something…something credible behind it."

The Chills released more hit tracks such as Kaleidoscope World and Satin Doll during the 80s. However, they even struggled to frequently deliver successful projects, leading to dormancy for a certain period.

Phillips once appeared for an interview with Far Out magazine in March 2024 and addressed the same by stating:

"It was really exciting. But there were daggers in people's eyes half the time. No one was able to chuck around ideas at all."

The Chills delivered two albums during the 90s, starting with Soft Bomb in 1992. This was followed by Sunburnt around four years later and both the albums received a mixed reaction from critics.

The band's next project came out after a long break in 2015, titled Silver Bullets, and their last album was Scatterbrain, released in 2021.

Furthermore, The Chills had a live album, Somewhere Beautiful, in their credits. The group also became famous for their songs such as Double Summer, Molten Gold, Conversation Piece, Complex, and more. The current lineup of the band included Martin Phillipps, Callum Hampton, Todd Knudson, Erica Scally, and Oli Wilson.