RIP: Joe Ely, Bruce Springsteen & The Clash Collaborator, Dead At 78

According to Consequence.net, Joe Ely, an alt-country legend artist who collaborated with the likes of The Clash and Bruce Springsteen, has died at the age of 78 years old. The Texas musician passed away after battling Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s disease and pneumonia. A statement reads: “Legendary songwriter, singer, and raconteur Joe Ely died today from complications of Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s and pneumonia. His beloved wife Sharon and daughter Marie were at his side at their home in Taos, New Mexico. Ely was born February 9, 1947 in Amarillo, Texas. He was a leader of the extraordinary parade of artists raised in Lubbock who later settled in the live music capital of Austin. Ely signed with MCA Records in the 1970s and spent more than five decades recording and performing around the world. A full obituary and more information will follow in the coming days.”

Ely got his start in music forming the country-rock band The Flatlanders in 1972, with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock. However, their music went mostly unreleased and only seeing the light of day in the ’90s after all three members had made names for themselves as solo artists. The band reunited in 1998 and would play together and record throughout the years until Ely’s passing.

In 1977, Ely released his first of 16 solo albums, a self-titled effort. While touring England the following year, he met The Clash and later toured with the legendary punk band in Texas and Mexico. The Clash even name-checked Ely in the lyrics to their song “If Music Could Talk” from their 1980 album Sandinista!, with the line: “Well there ain’t no better blend than Joe Ely and his Texas Men.”Ely later sang backup vocals on The Clash’s hit “Should I Stay or Should I Go” from 1982’s Combat Rock.

In the early ’90s, Ely formed the short-lived supergroup Buzzin’ Cousins with John Mellencamp, John Prine, Dwight Yoakam and James McMurtry, releasing the song, “Sweet Suzanne” for the soundtrack to the movie Falling from Grace starring Mellencamp. More recently, Bruce Springsteen appeared on Ely’s 2024 album, Driven to Drive, guesting on the track “Odds of the Blues.” Eight years earlier, Springsteen inducted Ely into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.