17 Jan 2010
Influential singer-songwriter John Martyn - who died last year aged 60 - left his two sons out of his will. Three-quarters of his £82,000 estate will go to his partner Teresa Walsh, while the remaining 25 per cent goes to his daughter, Mhairi McGeachy. But Martyn's will, signed on June 28, 2007, made no mention of his other two children, Wesley and Spenser. Martyn left an estate worth £312,000, which was reduced to £82,000 after his affairs were settled.
Martyn was born Iain David McGeachy in Surrey in 1948, and he went on to influence some of the biggest names in the music business, including Eric Clapton and U2, with his unique blend of blues, funk and folk. He spent most of his career hooked on drugs and alcohol, and in 2003 his right leg had to be amputated below the knee because of a burst cyst. Over the years his weight ballooned to around 20stone.
Martyn worked with his first wife, blues singer Beverley Kutner, on the influential 1970 album Stormbringer! but they divorced in 1980. For many critics and fans his high-water mark was the 1973 album Solid Air - its title track a tribute to friend and rock legend Nick Drake, who had overdosed on antidepressants at the age of 26. Martyn toured in the United States with Free and Traffic, where his tales of rock'n'roll excess are legendary. Free guitarist Paul Kossoff even broke a bottle over Martyn's head during one bust-up. And he was once so drunk at a gig in Spain that he managed to fall off the stage.
Martyn's second wife, Annie Furlong, died in 1996. Martyn was awarded an OBE shortly before his death.
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