Brian Gilliam

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Brian Gilliam


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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Brian James Anthony Gilliam
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Born = birth date|1961|5|25 Basildon ,Essex, England, UK
Died = death date and age|1998|12|9|1961|5|25|df=yes Upnor, Kent
Instrument = Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer
Genre = Alternative rock Indie Folk Punk
Occupation = Singer
Years_active = 1976-1998
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Notable_instruments = Fender Telecaster Fender Stratocaster Korg MS-20

Brian James Anthony Gilliam (May 25, 1961 – December 9, 1998), better known as Brian Gilliam, was an English alternative rock musician. His lyrics were heavily based in politics, romance and spirituality. During his 22 year career, Gilliam made 14 albums, 4 of which he released himself however none were reached critical acclaim or coverage in the mainstream press. Gilliam died at his home in Upnor, Kent of Melanoma.

Career and Death

In 1976, Gilliam, who was still attending Secondary school at the time, began work on his first release with his band the Banging Goats. He was then fired from the band for being 'too arrogant'. He took the work he did with the band and played solo. He released his first Extended Play called The Racist Myths in December 1976. Like all of his work, it received no coverage from the mainstream music media. For the next few years, after leaving school in 1977, Gilliam became more politically motivated, releasing Life's A Shame and The Give Away which had strong anti-Facist and anti-Conservative songs. His strong views meant that many venues in London, Essex and Kent declined his offer to play for free. In 1981, Gilliam had released 2 albums, Blackened and Death or Glory, the latter was named after The Clash song and also featured a cover of the song.

His next album, Theory, which was released in 1983, featured bitter words towards Margaret Thatcher whom he had called 'the Iron Bitch.' He also talked heavily about Buddhism, which lead for some too believe he was Buddhist, he later renounced that claim stating that he was 'an irreligious agnostic with no intention of joining an organised religion.' His album, Machine, which was released in the Autumn of 1985, showed a great amount of anger towards Thatcher and her position in the Falklands War, however it's songs were mainly based on romantic themes. It also featured a tribute to Jazz legend Louis Armstrong called Pops, Play Me A Tune. It was the 2nd most successful of all his releases. The 1987 album, The Bitch in No.10, was his most successful release and was seen as his most politically motivated album. It was reputed to have sold 300,000 copies in the UK. His song, Nuclear Winter in 4 minutes, is his most popular song and is a favourite of cover artists. It had a controversial album cover depicting a bulldog urinating on the Union Flag. He later commented on it, saying that 'it was not an attack on Britain, just a strong attack on Thatcher.'

His 1988 album, Islands, was seen as a leap from the relatively lively Folk Punk and Alternative Rock of 'Machine' and 'The Bitch in No.10' to a more calm Indie rock style. This was unpopular amongst many of his fans but he said that 'I just couldn't carry on with all the anger and fury and the pace of the previous two or three albums, I just had to tone it down a little bit. It makes me feel more genuine as I'm singing songs from my heart and not my head any more.' The title track was released as a single and was reputed to have sold 50,000 copies. In 1989, Gilliam released the album, 28. Again he stayed with the indie genre but the title track, 28, was a Folk Punk and strongly political song against Thatcher's Section 28. It was 3 years before he released any new works, releasing Faith in May 1992. It was a spiritually themed album, with a great deal of emphasis on Christianity and Buddhism. It also featured a cover of The Clash song, Something About England.

After Faith, he went to Argentina for two years doing work with numerous charities. Upon coming back he began work on another album, Blonde, which he released in the November 1996. It was criticised by some fans for being too guitar centred as he feature a guitar solo in every song and only two of the songs on the album featured vocals even though he had sang on every other song he had made from previous albums. He released Streets in 1997, which featured an apology track to all the fans who bought the previous album saying, 'I didn't realise you loved my voice so much, I'll never let you down again.' It was taken very well by fans and was said by some to be his best album since 'The Bitch in No.10.'

In June 1998, Gilliam found that he had skin cancer or melanoma. He was said to have had surgery but refused any further treatment. From June through to November of 1998 he worked tirelessly to make as much music as he could. He had to stop in November however because he became extremely ill. On December 9, 1998, Brian Gilliam passed away at his home in Upnor. His friend, who was staying with him at the time, found him dead at around 8am in the morning. On May 25, 1999, Life at the Feet of Red Flags was released. It was taken as one of his best works and was seen as a farewell to the fans. However, in January 2000 his final album, XIV, was released. It features a track called If I Die Tomorrow, in which he mentions the pain he is in, and how he is content with the thought of death.