Brian Connolly was a rock musician and the lead singer of the band The Sweet, which had a lot of hits.
His popularity and fortune seemed to be unstoppable in the 1970s after the smash hit “The Ballroom Blitz.”
But the last chapter of his life is a sad story that most people don’t know about.
Brian Connolly, the main singer of the glam rock band The Sweet, was incredibly good-looking and looked to have it all. The band ruled the 1970s, playing for huge crowds all over the world and living the high life that comes with being a superstar.
People of all ages liked them, and their music is still popular today. People believed that Mick Tucker was one of the best drummers of his time and that Brian’s voice could make any stage come alive.
The Sweet came out in the middle of the 1970s, a great moment for rock music. Some of the most famous bands in the world were Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and Queen. But Sweet had everything: talent, charm, and a lot of hit tunes. They were also one of the few British bands to have songs on the American charts.
Everyone knows “Ballroom Blitz” for its wild intensity, iconic drum entrance, and electric guitars, but Sweet was more than simply a glam rock band. They were as hard as Deep Purple, as cool as The Rolling Stones, and their tunes were as catchy as The Beatles’. Set Me Free could have easily been on a Judas Priest album, and Sweet F.A. had the same raw power as early AC/DC.
At the height of their success, Sweet sold an incredible 50 million records around the world.
Brian Connolly was at the heart of it all. The band’s face became the dynamic leader, who had a great look and a powerful presence on stage. He had millions of fans, the globe at his feet, and a voice that changed the course of history. But history demonstrates that being famous and rich didn’t keep him safe from the bad things about being a rock star.
When I was a baby, I was left alone.
Brian was born in Scotland in 1945. He was called Brian MacManus until he turned 18.
Brian had a terrible life from the beginning. A nurse and her husband took care of him when he was a newborn. Brian never knew who his real father was. But when he became older, he learned that he was the half-brother of Mark McManus, a famous Scottish actor who portrayed Detective Taggart in one of the UK’s longest-running TV series.
Brian was becoming well-known as a singer in the UK by the middle of the 1960s. He helped create the band Sweet a few years later. The band became quite popular in the 1970s.
Andy Scott, the band’s guitarist, thought they did quite well:
“During that time, a lot of money went through the bank accounts. He added, “We became millionaires,” and then he pointed out that Sweet had 39 successes throughout the world and 13 top-20 songs in the UK, including the number-one single Block Buster!
Brian Connoly’s trademark golden hair, which was curled and flicked back, was a classic look for glam rock in the 1970s. He was without a doubt the face of Sweet.
But in 1979, when he left The Sweet to launch a solo career, things started to go awry for him. At that point, he was already experiencing problems with drinking, which was harming his reputation in the band.
“Slowly, it got out of hand. Connolly once stated, “I always said that if I ever wanted to stop, I could.” If I had told myself, “I’ve had enough,” I don’t know what would have happened.
He had a lot of dedicated admirers, but his solo singles didn’t fare well, and his career never took off the way he expected it to.
He put his house up for sale.
In January 1983, he had a small break when he opened for Pat Benatar in Birmingham, Newcastle, and London. But then his money problems got a lot worse. Because of their hit albums, the band acquired a massive tax bill of millions of pounds. Connolly had to sell his property to pay it off.
At about the same time, his health began to get worse.
He went to the hospital in 1981 because he was really bloated. He had several heart attacks that left him mostly paralyzed on his left side. This sickness would later become a long-term problem with the nerve system.
Starting in 1984, he maintained touring the UK and Europe with his reformed band, the New Sweet, even though he was suffering health problems. But because of his health, it was hard for him to keep up with the busy pace. During a tour of Australia in 1990, he had to go to the hospital for dehydration. It was clear that he could no longer handle the stress of touring.
The Sweet’s name caused him even more legal problems, which cost him additional money. In the end, the two sides went their separate ways. Brian Connolly’s band became Brian Connolly’s Sweet, and Andy Scott’s band became Andy Scott’s Sweet.
Connolly kept going on tour, but he didn’t making nearly as much money as he used to, and his health kept getting worse.
Last job interview
He released a solo album called Let’s Go in 1995, and it did okay. That year, Jean, who was 23 at the time, had their son. In the 1996 Channel 4 documentary Don’t Leave Me This Way, Connolly revealed he had had six heart attacks and that years of drinking too much had seriously harmed his body.
By the middle of the 1990s, the glam rock star who used to be the “golden boy” was almost unrecognizable. He had a limp and shook a lot when he walked, and his performances showed how awful things had gone for him.
Brian told writer Jasper Rees in their last interview that he had the hardest job when Sweet initially became famous. He also talked about his cardiac problems without holding back. His ex-wife says Connolly suffered 13 heart attacks in 24 hours, while the singer says it was more like 12 over six weeks.
At that time, he lived alone in a quiet neighborhood with not much going on. His hands were shaking, and his voice, which used to be strong, was noticeably weaker.
His last concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on December 5, 1996. He shared the stage with Slade II and John Rossall’s Glitter Band Experience.
Brian Connolly passed away a little over three months later. The former adolescent sensation died on February 9, 1997, at Wexham Park Hospital from kidney and liver failure, which was made worse by many heart attacks.
Later, fans gathered money for a memorial plaque at Breakspear Crematorium to memorialize the singer who once lit up stadiums all over the world.
