Stealers Wheel star Joe Egan dies

Stealers Wheel star Joe Egan has died.

The rocker - who co-wrote the band's hit track 'Stuck In The Middle With You' - passed away aged 77 and news of his passing emerged over the weekend (06-07.07.24) with Martha Rafferty - daughter of Egan's later bandmate Gerry Rafferty - confirming the loss in an emotional post on Facebook.

She wrote: "Very sad news that the other half of Stealers Wheel, Joe Egan, passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon with his nearest and dearest around him.

"I will always remember him as a sweet and gentle soul. May he rest in peace."

Egan was born in Scotland in 1946 and became friends with Gerry Rafferty when they were attending St Mirin's Academy school together. He was a keen footballer and had hoped to become a professional player, before turning his hand to music and forming Stealers Wheel with his pal Gerry in 1972.

They went on to release 'Stuck In The Middle With You' - which the pair wrote together - a year later and it was a big hit with the song climbing to number eight on the UK Singles Chart and peaking at number six on America's Billboard Hot 100.

However, Rafferty had already left the band by the time success came their way - exiting before their self-titled debut album was released in 1972 and before 'Stuck In The Middle With You' became a big hit.

Egan continued the band without his friend, who later returned and they continued as a duo. They released two more albums together - 'Ferguslie Park' in 1973 and 'Right or Wrong' in 1975 before splitting later that year.

Egan went on to focus on a solo career releasing 'Out of Nowhere' in 1979 and 'Map' in 1981 but eventually left the music industry in the 1990s.

Stealers Wheel reunited in 2008 but neither Egan or Rafferty - who died in 2011 - took part.

Speaking shortly after Rafferty's death, Egan told the Paisley Daily Express newspaper: "We lived in each other’s pockets for so long and, latterly, would speak regularly on the phone.

"Gerry was around six months older than me and was also a year above at school. I was always interested in music, like Gerry, but I was also into football in a big way and at one stage I’d hoped to make it as a player.

"But when it became clear that I thought I was better than I actually was, I threw myself headfirst into my music. That’s when Gerry and I first got together ... We formed Stealers Wheel along with Rab Noakes and an American guy called Roger Brown, but the line-up changed over time and at the end it was just Gerry and I who recorded the last two albums."