It was on this day 35 years ago today that we lost one of the greatest voices of her time when Sandy Denny suddenly passed away from one of the more stranger deaths in music history. Just weeks before her death Sandy had fallen down some stairs and hit her head on some concrete. She had been staying with some friends after her husband had left her with their daughter due to her problem with substance abuse and was found by a friend and was unresponsive. After being taken to the hospital Sandy unfortunately died a few days later from doctors had described as “mid-brain trauma”.

Sandy Denny at the age of 31 definitely had one of the most hauntingly pure singing voices of her generation and was once described as “the pre-eminent British folk rock singer”. After working for a short time with the band Strawbs, she then joined Fairport Convention in 1968 and remained with them until 1969 before forming her own band in 1970 called Fotheringay which released one album (another unreleased album surfaced over 30 years later). Between 1971-77 she focused on a solo career which seen her release four albums,“The North Star Grassman and the Ravens”, “Sandy”, “Like an Old Fashioned Waltz”, and “Rendezvous”. She is probably remembered best by classic rock fans from her duet on one of the biggest rock albums of all-time for her duet with Robert Plant on “The Battle of Evermore” on the Led Zeppelin IV album from 1971, which made her the only guest vocalist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin album.

Rest In Peace Alexandra Elene Maclean “Sandy” Denny (January 6, 1947 – April 21, 1978)
The inscription on her headstone reads, “‘The Lady’ Alexandra Elene MacLean Lucas (Sandy Denny) 6.1.47 – 21.4.78.”

Cheers,
BriShi