Joe Egan (musician)

Joseph Egan (18 October 1946 – 6 July 2024) was a Scottish singer-songwriter. Along with Gerry Rafferty, Egan was one of the two main members of the folk rock band Stealers Wheel, and co-writer of their hit song "Stuck in the Middle with You".

Biography

Egan was born into an Irish Catholic family in Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Along with former St Mirin's Academy schoolmate Gerry Rafferty, he played in various smaller British bands, such as The Sensors and The Maverix, and worked as a session musician.

In 1972, Egan and Rafferty founded the folk/rock band Stealers Wheel. After two unsuccessful singles, their debut studio album Stealers Wheel, produced by the American songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, became a commercial success. The album's main single, "Stuck in the Middle With You", co-written by Egan with Rafferty became a hit in 1973, and reached the Top Ten of both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100. Subsequently, the band had a few smaller successes, among others, with the Egan-penned song "Star", but stagnating sales figures and artistic differences finally led to the band's break-up in 1975, with both Egan and Rafferty embarking on solo careers, with Rafferty scoring a hit with "Baker Street" in 1978.

Egan's first solo album, Out of Nowhere, was released in 1979. A song from the album, "Back On The Road Again", became a turntable hit on British radio. 1981 saw the release of Egan's second album, Map. He contributed backing vocals to Rafferty's 1992 album On a Wing and a Prayer. Egan left the music business in the 1990s.

Egan died from a stroke in Paisley on 6 July 2024, at the age of 77.