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Rock

Matthew Seligman, Former Soft Boys Bassist, Dies at 64 Due to Coronavirus

By Mitchell Peters
4/18/2020
By Mitchell Peters
4/18/2020
Andy Sheppard/Redferns

Matthew Seligman performs with Thomas Dolby and his band at Union Chapel on Feb. 28, 2010, in London.

Thomas Dolby says the bass player "suffered a catastrophic haemorrhagic stroke" after being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19.

Musician Matthew Seligman, best known as the bass player for The Soft Boys, has died due to complications of the coronavirus. He was 64.

Former Soft Boys frontman Robyn Hitchcock confirmed the news of Seligman's death in a heartfelt Facebook post on Friday. "I’m writing this as Matthew Seligman slips out of this life and into wherever souls go next," wrote Hitchcock, who met Seligman in 1976. "Everybody goes, but none of us were expecting Matthew to leave us so abruptly, forever."

Seligman's friend and former bandmate Thomas Dolby shared on Facebook that Seligman "suffered a catastrophic haemorrhagic stroke" after recently being admitted to St George’s in London for COVID-19.

Artist Mentioned

Robyn Hitchcock

"I am so sad to have to bear this terrible news," Dolby wrote. "I have loved him as a friend and a fellow musician for 40 years.”

Seligman joined The Soft Boys in the late 1970s and performed on the psychedelic band's A Can of Bees (1979) and Underwater Moonlight (1980) albums. He later played on solo albums by Hitchcock and Dolby. Seligman's impressive résumé also included playing alongside David Bowie, Thompson Twins, Morrissey, Chrissie Hynde, Sinead O’Connor and Tori Amos.

"I’m profoundly grateful to have played music with him -- you could really see his face light up like a full moon when he listened back to a take he enjoyed," Hitchcock remembered. "Onstage he would lope and lurch and pace when the music moved him. Matthew is, was, and always will be one of the greats."

Seligman is survived by his partner, Mami; and his children, Daisy and Lily.

See more tributes to Seligman below.

By Mitchell Peters
4/18/2020

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