Phil May, frontman with the Pretty Things, dies aged 75

Phil May, frontman of riotous band the Pretty Things who were acclaimed peers of David Bowie and the Rolling Stones, has died aged 75. He died in hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, from complications following hip surgery after a cycling accident, that are not related to coronavirus. Born in Dartford, Kent, May formed the Pretty Things in 1963 with guitarist Dick Taylor, who had recently left the nascent Rolling Stones. The band’s lineup coalesced with John Stax, Brian Pendleton and Viv Andrews, with May as frontman. The group became a key part of the London blues-rock scene who were in thrall to US blues players but were also bringing in new elements of pop and psychedelia. They had an early Top 10 hit in Don’t Bring Me Down and other moderately successful songs like Honey I Need and Cry to Me, and became known for their drug-taking and raucous on-stage behaviour. May was bisexual, wore his hair long and marked himself out as a countercultural figure. He remembered in a Guardian