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Fears grow for Baker Street singer Gerry Rafferty not seen since August
Rashid Razaq16 Feb 2009
Concerns have been raised for Gerry Rafferty after it emerged the singer has been missing since he walked out of hospital nearly six months ago.
The Scottish musician behind hits including Baker Street and Stuck In The Middle With You has not been seen since he disappeared from St Thomas' Hospital on 1 August where he was being treated for liver failure.
Rafferty, 61, who has a history of alcohol addiction, has not made contact with friends or family, raising fears his health may have dangerously deteriorated.
Tony Williams, who formed Stealers Wheel with Rafferty in the Seventies, appealed for help to find the singer, who he believes was on a "suicide trip".
Rafferty was asked to leave the Westbury Hotel in Mayfair after he ransacked his room days before he entered hospital.
The singer, from Renfrewshire, was reported to have been living out of a suitcase at a string of hotels, surviving on royalties from his hit singles. Baker Street alone still pays an annual income of £80,000.
Mr Williams said: "It's absolutely tragic. If he has liver failure he obviously needs someone to look after him. If he is still alive, somebody must be caring for him."
Staff at St Thomas' are understood to have contacted police when Rafferty went missing from hospital in August, but the Met said today there had been no missing persons appeal and could not confirm if there had been an investigation into the singer's disappearance.
A waiter has claimed to have served Rafferty at a restaurant in Piccadilly Circus days after he left hospital, while another sighting placed him at a bed and breakfast in Bournemouth.
Rafferty, who started out in folk band The Humblebums with Billy Connolly in the Sixties, enjoyed his greatest success as a solo artist after years of legal disputes following the split of Stealers Wheel.
Baker Street reached number three in the UK charts and number two in America on its release in 1978. He also co-produced The Proclaimers' single Letter From America.
However Rafferty's career petered out partly because of his reluctance to tour and he has not recorded any new material for almost a decade.
Reader views (4)
Think of all that you've created: There isn't a blank slate from your history. Your music is intense-magical-
- C. Mashock-Spolar, Waterford, WIsconsin USA, 29/10/2010 04:10
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Gerry, dont do this to yourself,you have a God given talent,not the right to destroy it. Oblivion is not of this world, plenty of time after.Love always.Mafalda no longer in Baker Street.
- Mafalda Platz, trans France, 25/02/2009 07:49
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Dear Gerry,
I am a huge fan of your wonderful music, it has largely been the soundtrack of my life. I just hope that you find peace and fulfilment in your life. Very best wishes,
- Mark O'Neill, Bunclody, Ireland, 22/02/2009 18:57
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Good luck to you Gerry. Sad to hear this. Didn't know anything much about you, but I bought a cheap CD a couple of years ago purely for 'Baker St' and it was an absolute revelation. Great music. Thank you. Come home well.
- B Williams, Friern Barnet, UK, 16/02/2009 10:21
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