I have to say I'm completely and utterly shocked.  I don't quite know 
how I'm going to hold it together in work this afternoon.

The first time I saw BC Sweet at Hammersmith Palais in the late 80s - 
he still had the voice of a God.

One of the truly great and distinctive rock voices has died.  Very, 
very sad.

All the best.

Sorry to hear the news.  My day has sunk to a low.   Thanks for all 
the good times Brian.  We hope you are happy now..

A sad day for his family and friends, and the fans he gave so much joy to.

My sincere condolences to his family, and to the entire Sweet family, of
which I consider us all a part...

Sincere Regards,

So it finally happend........... I'm out of words...... but I'm happy to know that I met him a few times and to find out
	what a sweet person he was.

>Thank You Brian for everything - an era has passed with you.

	You're right there....

      *************************************************************************************
	*Rest in peace Brian, I will NEVER forget you for all the joy you gave me.*
      *************************************************************************************


Long Live The Sweet

Signing of with a BIG lump in my throat.....

I read your pages today after being very sad since hearing the news today. 
 I am a district nursing sister who cares for many people suffering 
similarly to Brian, and so have some insight into what he will have been 
going through, also his family.

I have been a Sweet fan since my teens and because I lived in Devon did not 
get to see them until recently where I saw Brian in Oxford first, followed 
by at the Kent Music Spectacular and finally at Worthing.  After getting 
over the shock of how ill he had become, the shakes and the tremors were 
forgotten as soon as he opened his mouth and the music started.

I have many momentos and I will never forget him or his music.  I wish 
there was some way I could let his family know how much pleasure he gave to 
me over the years, and how much I will miss knowing that I won't get to see 
him again.

I will keep watching your page now - I'm still fairly new to the net, and 
will write to you again soon

Sorry to hear.
I never knew him personally but The Sweet were a big part of my growing up
and Brian was always my favorite of the band.
To this day and with the revival of first AS Sweet and then BC Sweet I was
constantly hoping to see Brian live someday after all. Well, there are the
memories...

Condolescences to family and friends.

"Another icon rises to the status of legend,
all the madness that seems to tag along with fame,
just becomes another sad ending in a never ending game"
                                                - Tyla, 'Lament Of Night'

A very sad time for all fans. I know you'll get lots of requests like
this, but please pass on my condolences. A real shame we were so close
to seeing the original line-up back together

 Dear one and all,
  I am very saddened to hear about Brian Connolly passing away from us. The
Sweet are and always have been and always will be one of my favorite rock
bands of all time. I never got to see the original Sweet, nor did I get a
chance to see Brian Connolly's sweet in the California, San Francisco Bay
Area. I have very fond memories of Sweet though. 
21 years ago in 1976 I used to drive to Berkeley from the suburbs of Pleasant
Hill to a store called "Rather Ripped Records". That was the only store where
I could get the Sweet's imports albums. I remember buying "Sweet Fanny adams"
and playing that record over and over agian. You coundn't get that record
here in America. Since 1976 I've been checking the local newspapers waiting
for The Sweet's tickets to go on sale. I never stopped looking. Even when I
felt like I was still the only fan, or perhaps even if it wasn't "cool" to be
a Sweet fan anymore. Still, no one can argue that "Desolation Boulevard"
isn't one of the greatest Rock and Roll albums ever produced. It still sounds
as fresh and relevant today as when I remember first hearing it and the songs
on the AM radio in our cars everywhere we went while a teenager partying with
my friends..drinking some beers and smoking some great pot and having a good
time.  

Today in the San Francisco Bay Area it's a bright sunny day after so many
days of rain. I think Brian is smiling down on us all right now from up
above. Indeed I feel his presence most strongly. 
 
 Thank you Brian most Sincerely for all the happiness and good times you gave
me through your music. When I was a teenager, confused on which way to go in
my life, your music showed me the way, brought me tons of joy and elevated my
spirts to unimaginable heights. I will miss you, but I will never forget you
and will always keep your memory and spirt alive forever.
Sincerely yours,

Good to find this page. Thought I'd surf for Sweet today. Sad day Monday.
It affected me badly being Sweet was the band that got me into my HM music
obsession.

Regards

Stewart,
     
     Thanks for the confirmation. It's a sad day for sure. You at least had 
     the oppotunity to see Brian live, unfortunately living in Australia, 
     our oppotunities were limited and I did not ever see Brian with the 
     Sweet or when he toured by himself(sheer bad luck). 
     
     My dreams of seeing Brian, Mick, Andy and Steve together have died 
     with Brian, so I guess to claim you saw his last performance means 
     alot to people like me.
     
     I hope you can keep me updated with details and reactions around the 
     U.K. It certainly is an end of great era, one which shaped by musical 
     taste no end.
     
     Brian Connolly 
     R.I.P

Thank you Brian, 

For the years of entertainment you have provided your public - dedicated
followers, passing fans, radio listeners alike.
For the efforts you made to entertain even when your body wasn't
cooperating.
For the thrill and warmth you gave to me on the one occasion I met and
spoke with you.

You made mistakes during your life that all those in this world's
unforgiving spotlight make, but you lived each day of your life as you
wanted to at the time. That's what really matters.

In my mind, I'll remember three sides to you.  The quiet, shy youth just
discovering what benefits fame could bring; The experienced, headstrong
singer dealing the cards his way in a tough rock lifestyle; The sad,
gentle, grateful soul living inside a shell, but striving to be released
to entertain and satisfy.
Others may see you in a different light, but Brian, this will be your
legacy to me for the rest of my life.

The world still has your voice to keep, and we will always have your
images to remind us.

Now, may you always rest in peace...

I spoke to Sue Jackson this afternoon, (10th Feb)  and she told me that Brian
had been ill for some weeks.   I'd done some artwork for him, and ironically,
only posted it to Brian c/o Sue this morning.  He'll never see it now, but  I've
told Sue  to keep it  as I feel she deserves it for all her hard work and
dedication for Brian's fan club.  It's  a drawing of a naked girl standing
against a black background  holding the Sweet logo in  silver.   Only her lips
have any colour - bright scarlet.  I think Brian would have liked it.    I can't
believe he' s gone.  He was such a fighter.   I'll always remember him as he
was, back in the 70's.  Blond, beautiful, with a voice like an angel.

Dear Stuart

It is tragic to hear about Brian, and I wish to take this opportunity 
to offer my deepest sympathy to his family and to all those who knew 
him.  He will be sadly missed.

Regards

I just wanted to thank you for passing along this news.  I'm
a big Sweet fan, just got hooked on the band a few years ago
thanks to Def Leppard's covers.  I'm currently looking for a
few Sweet rarities like "Hellraiser" and "Funny Funny", but
they're rather hard to find in the Midwest.  I always liked
Brian's voice, and was disappointed when Sweet didn't get back
together in 1990 like they had planned.  Andy's version of
Sweet just didn't cut it with me, I had always hoped Brian would
get involved again.  Very sad news.  RIP

Dear Stewart:

I got the news about Brian Connolly's death yesterday morning, before I
was off to work---Martin Florichs in Germany passed it along on the
Slade network. My memories of The Sweet, being that at the time I was
stuck in North Carolina and working at a little FM radio station in
Smithfield, NC. I 15 at the time, and there was  "Ballroom Blitz" and
"The Sixteens"---wonderful anthems. So different from the endless runs
of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mountain, The Allman Bros., ZZ Top, Nantucket,
Nazareth---ghastly pseudo-blues/boogie stuff I had to play in order to
appease the local and national advertisers and the Budweiser-swilling
yokels...Along came The Sweet, Slade, T-Rex, Bowie, the re-energized
Mott the Hoople, Lou Reed making the charts with "Wild Side"...Hell, at
that time even Suzi Quatttro and Gary Glitter were a welcomed taste of
something else...All of this, of course, came along with a
sputtering-out Alice Cooper, the lumbering of Led Zep....

I remember seeing The Sweet on Wolfman Jack's "Midnight Concert". I think
that Slade played Wolfman's ABC show (Before ABC pulled the plug on the
show and it went into syndication because too many right-wing
fundamentalist preacher types in small-town US complained about a later
set of shows---Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Mott the Hoople and the New York
Dolls...THOSE folks really blew out the circuits, then as now.) at about
the same time, but it wasn't on the same weekend. Connolly was, as I
remember, not unlike Mr. Holder, capable of utterly defying the laws of
physics with his voice---pushing the envelope, so to speak.

Yeah, sure, visually, they were, by present standards, tasteless, the
Sweet were. So, too, were we all---that was the wonder of it all. These
guys, for all I knew, back there at that litle dim-bulb FM station in
the middle of a bunch of pine trees, were from the planet Zoron...And I
wanted to go there. 

Say what one will about Oasis, they are keeping that flame alive. 

Sadly.

I`ve just at today,Tuesday noticed what were Happen.One of my Idols
since my teenage-years had died.This made me a silent man for a while.
Everybody`s have to go sometimes,but it`s always Hurts to Other People.
I must tell,that I Really wasn`t specially interested about Brian`s
Sweet in Nineties,but I still remember the all these greatest songs 
that Sweet made with Brian.I`ll join the sorrow,that every real
Sweet-fan feels now.
        Rest in Peace,Brian

Sorry to hear from Brian.I was a Sweet fan in theire early years.
Time flys. I still have some early singles ,funny-funny,co-co....
Teenage Rampage was my favourite. Good things never last i guess.
Bye
Patrick,Belgium.
I was there when they put down their trousers:)

Hello;

I have been checking in here for some time feeling thankful a US fan of
17 years with not many resources can get info and here I check in and
expect tour news and I find this!  I am being selfish I know know and I
am sorry but I cried and just sat here.  All I could think of was the
fights with mt husband (tonight was the best for some odd reason)! 
Grateful Dead vs. Sweet.  I was a born asd raised San Franciscan and
Brian and gang always won!  God,  I feel so sad please wish my best to
his family and I hope you will get better.

Best wishes.

Stewart, please pass this on to Sue Jackson for me. Brians death has 
made me very sad because it symbolizes the end of an era. But his life 
brought such overwhelming happiness to so many. For me, as a singer 
and performer, Brian Connally's vocal style was a major influence on 
my style. Sweet was my band, King Dude's biggest influence. As a kid 
growing up in the 70's in the states, I always wanted to look like 
Brian because he looked so cool. He had style. He had charisma. He 
also had the ability to sing-really sing. So many true talents remain 
unfortunitely, anonymous. Brian Connally however was able to share his 
talents with us all for a long time. His music and his voice will live 
on forever through the recordings that I, and millions of others like 
me treasure. I'll miss him greatly. God Bless You Brian. 

Stewart I have just seen the report on the news in Perth about the	
passing of Brian 11/2/97 at 6:00pm.
It has afected me more than I though it would.
To have watch and listen to someone for more that 20 years, and to have
hoped to have seen him just up front one more time is somethink I had
wished for.
Keep the news comming.

	Gary....................

P.S I am lost for words   MAY HE REST IN PEACE.

Another small tribute to the great singer Brian Connolly
who passed away much too soon.

Dear Brian,
I miss you a lot.
You were my greatest idol through the years, and will remain so.
"The Sweet" meant all to you, and you kept on pleasing us with 
your music, right til the end.
Though you're not around us anymore, your music will live on forever.
Thanks for everything you gave us, I will never forget you. 
I'm sorry that I never got to meet you, it would have been fun.

Love, Ingela

Heartbreak Today...

RIP Brian....your voice will live forever

Hi,
My name is Mark, I live in San Francisco, but I grew up in Ripon, North
Yorkshire. I was 12 when I bought my first Sweet 45 (Little Willy), and ever
since then I've been a huge fan. My memories of liking Sweet are tough, I was
(or seemed to be) the only person in my year at school who openly liked this
"Bunch of Queers" is what they were most commonly called. However, I didn't
care and in 1974 I almost got to see them live at their peak, unfortunately
some **** attacked Brian and the tour was cancelled. I never did get to see
the original four, but their records are now acknowledged as classics. Goodbye
Brian, Thanks for the memories.

Stewart,

Truly Devastating news, I am in a complete state of shock, as (I presume) are
other Sweet fans out there. 

Obviously would like to read MORE news and as many details as possible - your
MORE NEWS link isn't working right now. But I'm not trying to push you or
hurry you up - I realise this must be just as devastating for you as it is
for me. Brian and his voice has meant a lot to me since my own childhood...
 long story. :(

Have any proceedings for a funeral been arranged yet?

Anyway, if you want more articles and pictures (Goldmine, a US publication,
has just run a huge SWEET feature; at the time of the press they were still
unaware of Brian's death, or he was still alive then) -  don't hesitate to
let me know.

Cheers,

It was very sad to hear about Brian's death.
He and the rest of the band has ment a lot to me, they were the
first band I liked and followed closely during their whole original lineup.

I'd like to express my deepest sympathy with the family.

Yours sincerely,

Thanks for all the work you´re doing.
When I heard the news about Brian´s death I told my friend 
Richard (who´s not connected to Interntet)
He is propably the biggest Sweet fan that ever walked on
this earth.
When I told him about Brian he started to cry and asked me to print 
out all the news I could get about his death.
So, Please write to me of everything you can find out about it.

Best regards

I just can't find words to describe the feelings that I feel. Brian
meant so much to me. I became a Sweet Fan 1971 when I was 9 years old
and I'm 35 now. Brian was my hero, my everything in life through so many
years that it now feels like I've lost a very close friend. I feel
totaly empty inside and I'm walking around with a big lump in my throuht
that dosen't want to go away.

Brian will always have a special place in my heart, and he will live on
through the songs that gave so many fans lots of joy. I will never
forget his lovely voice, those warm eyes and smiling face that I loved
so much.
I'm glad that I hade the chance to meet him a few times, but that just
make the lost greater.

I want Marilyn to know that my thoghts will be with her and the
children.

          Thank You Brian for everything and God bless you!
                          I will always remember you !
            I hope you now will reunite with your real parents

 
Brian Connolly & The Sweet were a very big part of my life when I was a
young lad in the early 1970's. I was first attracted by their Pop songs but
I was quickly converted to heavy rock by their B'sides and album tracks. I
never lost my affection for The Sweet and I see their influence even in
today's music.

I last saw Brian in concert back in the early 1980's in Birkenhead
(England) as "Brian Connolly's Sweet". I was shocked back then how ill he
looked.

I will always remember Brian as he was in the early 70's and I remember him
fondly. I always expected to see The Sweet back together again - now he's
dead - it will never happen - and all of a sudden I feel very old.

I'm sorry for Brian, his family, his friends and his fans - we'll all miss
him - and we'll never forget.

R.I.P. Brian. - Love Andy Harrison

 
I was deeply saddend to hear of Brian's death, his courage to battle on
against his previous illness' should serve as an inspiration to us all,
my sincere condolences to all his family and friends, how sad his death
came just months after some positive conversations with Andy Scott.  It
would be a fitting tribute to BC if the three other members reformed for
a gig to raise money for BC's young son.

RIP BC.

Just spent the night after a hard days work listening to ballroom hitz.

said to my wife that sweet were my FIRST, band, it went something like 
Sweet, Rush, Heart, Brain Adams , Floyd..... yet somehow Sweet, (Hitz)
seems so fresh, after 20 odd years. Brain Connolly was my first "idol" the
music is so original...raw and ahead of its time.

I felt uneasy watching the recent documentary onSWEET, we like to remember
the faces as we remember them from 20 yrs ago...in their 30's yet it can
not be so.  Still; Sweet made their mark, and I do not know of any other
band that I can still get the same "vibe" from some 20 yrs on. I liked
sweet when I was 11; I like sweet  now i'm 35. Time passes by but good
talent and music lives on. Brian Connolly WAS music to me when I was a
teenager, sweet made the kind of music that I liked to listen to...I have
progressed in my taste; I like Alana Moirestte, Oasis, yet Sweet remain
fresh, upto date, raw  and still modern. Its sad that Brian has passed
away, yet the music stays with us. Thats good...Brian has left alot to
remember him bye.


Keep up the excellent WEB SITE........... 

Stew,
     
     Thought I tell you about reports of Brian from the media in Melbourne.
     
     
     Both major papers ran small articles the day after Brians's death 
     briefly mentioning that hard living "Sweet star" Brian Connolly died 
     in hospital aged 52 of Renal failure. Hits included Ballroom Blitz, 
     Wig Wam Bam & Blockbuster. (Funny thing is that Fox on the Run was by 
     far the Sweets biggest hit here)
          
     Late night news reported that Brian had died and showed a photo as a 
     backdrop whilst briefly mentioning the renal failure. 
     
     Today Friday 14th we were treated to a half page obituary to Brian in 
     our largest paper (Herald-Sun) which was a great article (great as in 
     informative). 
     
     It basically said that Brian a half brother to the actor who played 
     "Taggart" and that he had multiple heart attacks in 1980. He then gave 
     up the drink tried to resurect his career but his own fame often 
     limited him. We even had a photo of Brian.
     
     It's been a shit of a week, I sat down Tuesday night with a stiff 
     drink put my Sweet video on and guess what the tape jams in the VCR. 
     Expletives flew.

I have been thinking a lot of sweet and  Brian theese days,and my relation to 
the phenomena called "The Sweet"
I will not try to explain it but a coupple of "happenings" could be told.

Back in the -may-76 Sweet did a show att the tivoli "Gröna Lund" in 
Stockholm.The consert should be held the day before but a crowd of 10 000 
people had to leave whithout show due to rain and cold.
The next day there were no rain but it was cold.The show went on and Brian and 
the boys did all they could to warm the crowd up.They made a fantastic gig as I 
remember it.And somewhere in the middle Brian took his shirt off. AND I TELL 
YOU THE TEMPERATURE  GOT REALLY HOT THAT MAY-EAVNING.

In february -78 SWEET came to "Göta Lejon",a theatre in Stockholm.It was hard 
for them.Not so many people had come to the show.Someone in the audience wanted 
to show Brian love and threw a "dala-horse" (a famous swedish souvernir) at the 
stage.It hit Brian in the head so he had to go off stage for a while when the 
rest of the boys kept on playing something whith no interuption.And Brian came 
on again a bit angry telling the crowd not to throw things again.And they 
continued the show perfectly.This showed that the guys had a really 
proffesional attitude that I was impressed of.

In the summer of -85 Brian did a tour in Sweden and I saw him in Sunne up in 
the north.Again it was very exiting and at the end of the gig in WIGWAMBAM,it 
was wild at stage and it suddenly collapsed and Brians legs went through the 
wooden -floor.
they had to stop there and it became a anti-climax but up to that point it was 
very fun.

I hope everyone close to Brian can understand the love many people around the 
world felt for him  and his work.

I knew Brian Connolly a long time ago and I was saddened by news of his
death.  He was in The Sweet and I was in Episode Six and for a couple of
years in the sixties we were inseparable friends.  I liked him because he
had a car and drove me places.   He liked hanging around my flat in
Uxbridge, just around the corner from our local pub - the Gardeners Arms. 

We were both in struggling bands and shared the same lack of funds and
dreams of success.   When success came to each us in separate ways we
inevitably drifted apart and I saw him only sporadically after that.   We
became professionally aware of each other.   As the years passed we ceased
to be in contact altogether but from time to time I heard stories of his
sad decline in health.   The last time I saw him was in Uxbridge about
five years ago and I was shocked at his appearance, so his death does not
come as a surprise to me.   I can only hope that he is finally at peace.  
He was a man who most of all wanted to be a great singer in the tradition
of Sinatra or Bennett (as he told me once in the pub) but he achieved no
mean feat by his work in The Sweet, one of the most successful but
underrated bands of that era.   My condolences to his family.  

Roger Glover

Sad news!

Brian was my first idol back in the early 70's. I remember once at the age of 
maybe 10, I brought a big poster of Brian (the one he took with the little 
lionbaby or was it a tiger?) to my hairdresser... I wanted to look exactly that 
way! I had the right colour of my hair and almost long enough, but way too 
curly... I even adopted the name Brian as the stage name, when me and a friend 
formed our first band in school...

I didn't have the chance to see him live until 1984 and then a second time in 
1992, both times he was touring Sweden. Although it wasn't the magic of the 
real Sweet and the 70's, it struck me how much he afterall seemed to enjoy to 
be up there on stage and in the middle of it all! And maybe his voice wasn't 
that crystal clear anymore, but he still had the charisma and the ability to 
spellbind an audience, no matter how big or small it was, noone could take that 
away from him...

God bless you Brian! RIP!

Greetings Stewart

I phoned you the other evening about sending a condolence card.  You
reassured me that I had done the right thing.  

My wife had noticed I had been moping around a bit since hearing the news
on Monday morning, and as a teacher on holiday for half-term I had plenty
of time to let it sink in that Brian was no more.  Anyway she wasn't
surprised that I set off at five in the morning to Denham and popped the
card through the door by hand to make sure it got there.  I was a bit
choked up to say the least.  

I've attached a copy of a letter I sent to Brian in '95.

The web page is excellent and I look forward to hearing more about the
memorial that you refer to.  What for is it to take?

Keep up the excellent work.

 I know this may sound stupid and irrelevant but I just wanted to 
mention it.
   Last night (Well, technically this morning) around 1 am or so, I 
was listening to a local classic rock station (NY/NJ area) and to my 
surprise (and elation) they played "Love Is Like Oxygen".  It was 
strange because the radio stations don't even play "Ballroom Blitz" 
(which seems to be the best known Sweet song in America).
   Also, I am a DJ for my college radio station and I played 
"Ballroom Blitz" as a tribute to Brian (Desolation Boulevard is the 
only Sweet album I have - It was hard enough to find that one let 
alone any of their other albums).  My friend was happy about that 
being a Sweet fan also.
   I just thought I would mention these things.  Though there isn't 
a whole lot available about the band in the states (or at least where 
I come from) and though we don't get all the tv shows that are 
broadcast in the UK, there ARE Sweet fans here as well as around the 
world!  Although together no longer, their music will always live on!

Cheers,

Dear all, Please let's be gentle with our thoughts and 
particularly, our questions about Brian at the moment, until some time has passed and he has 
been laid to rest, and lets think about Nicola and Michelle and BJ and the family.

I hope you understand the above thoughts.  My friendship with Brian was a very fond one, and I 
did not know him as a pop star, but as an ordinary person with the job as a pop star, just as 
you and I have our work.  
One thing that keeps occurring to me...  I can guarantee that he would have been up 'there' on 
Monday absolutely revelling in the fact that he had made ALL the newspapers, tv and radio, 
probably comparing reports with Marc Bolan's,...... it would have made his day.  Especially 
looking through the other reports about politicians and dignitaries.  I am sure he would be 
laughing that his reports were bigger....  
Lets be careful to not do anything that would make him angry.  I can feel that he is watching us, 
and I wouldn't want to face his temper when it's my turn to take my seat up there, as it were!

As I said before, give me a little time, and I will continue my work with a different form of 
fanclub.  But at the moment, it is like a roller coaster ride, emotionally, as I am sure you know. 
 There will very likely, be a function or service arranged for the fans, quite soon.  Please don't 
press me about this, as this is just at the initial idea stage at the moment.  As soon as know, I 
will tell Stewart.  We all need it.

God bless you Brian, 
it was lovely knowing you, and after all your hellraising, you richly deserve to rest.

If any of you want to contact me, it's as follows.
I welcome your response and contact.


e-mail  S.Jackson@sussex.ac.uk

This page was last edited on: March 2nd 1997.