Stevie Wright, lead singer of the Easybeats, dies at 68

Stevie Wright, who fronted the band the Easybeats in the 1960s and is widely regarded as Australia’s first international pop star, has died at the age of 68.

The Aria Hall of Famer reportedly became ill on Boxing Day and was taken to Moruya hospital on the NSW south coast, where he died on Sunday night.

Rock historian Glenn A Baker confirmed to radio station 6PR he had been informed of the rock legend’s death.

The Easybeats, with renowned songwriting duo Harry Vanda and George Young in their lineup, were one of the first Australian pop bands to make an international breakthrough in the 1960s.

Their classic 1966 song Friday On My Mind, cowritten by Vanda and Young, was a No 1 hit in Australia, reached No 6 in the UK and made the top 20 in the US.

Recorded at the Abbey Road studios in London, it was voted the best Australian song ever in a poll celebrating 75 years of the Australasian Performing Rights Association in 2001. The song was later covered by David Bowie on his Pin-Ups album.

The Easybeats broke up in 1969 and Wright, also known as Little Stevie, became a top solo artist with his epic song Evie. But he went on to battle drug and alcohol addiction for two decades.

“I’ll be honest with you, many people didn’t expect him to reach 68,” Baker told the ABC’s Breakfast program on Radio National on Monday morning.

In 2005 he was inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame for his success with the Easybeats. He last performed at the Legends of Rock Festival at Byron Bay in 2009.

Wright was born in the northen English city of Leeds in 1947 before moving to Australia with his family at the age of nine. The other founding members of the Easybeats also came from migrant families.

News of his death prompted tributes on social media.

Country music singer Troy Cassar-Daley wrote: “Another amazing singer off to the big rock show in the sky.”

Singer-songwriter Neil Finn tweeted, “RIP Stevie Wright, he created musical magic that lives on”.

The singer Normie Rowe said Wright was an amazing performer.

“The Easybeats were one of the most remarkable pop bands of their time, and I think probably recorded the definitive pop song of the era in Friday On My Mind,” Rowe told ABC radio.

Johnny Young, 1960s singer-songwriter and former Young Talent Time host, said Wright was one of Australia’s greatest pop stars.

“He could take any audience and absolutely slay them with his energy,” Young told ABC radio.

“He lived a pretty rugged life at the end of it. Everybody knew he had some serious addictions that he had huge problems with, but I like to remember Steve as he was when he was younger.”