It is thought that Gloria had lost control of the car as she negotiated the bridge, striking a fence post before hitting a sycamore tree. Amongst many other things I recall him telling me he had difficulty reading where buses were going. Often the men were prettier than the women. The driver of the Mini, a purple 1275GT model, was his partner Gloria Jones, once one of Bolans backing singers but by then the mother of his 20 month old son Rolan. I hope you expose the fantasists in your book. Jones was hospitalized for injuries. When we rang the hospital later they told us the driver had a broken arm and jaw, but the passenger was DOA (dead on arrival), he added. In fact she did not even learn of his death until after his funeral. her lack of shame, or any trace of sadness is mind-blowing. He never thought he was going to die young. Seven years earlier I had become smitten by a certain single that had just been released . On 16 th September 1977, a car crash shocked the world of music, when a 29-year-old musician and the lead singer of British heavy metal band T-Rex Marc Bolan lost his life that night. Thank you Steve for confirming that. He lived for the day. yeah yeah yeah, His guitars , well actually a few are around , Now, he might have been forgetful. Cause of death was trauma and blood loss, and there is a suggestion that a bolt from a fence post punched into his temple and that was what finished him off. Her rendition of "Dock of the Bay" appears as a bonus track on T.Rex's album Bolan's Zip Gun. The car crash that killed him 30 years ago this month, brought him abruptly to the end of a . Always keep a little Marc in your heart. He saw every little appearance on the small screen as making him more famous in Sainsburys. #ltjones #marcbolanINSTAGRAM: L_T_Jones By Richard Jones. Gloria Jones' career began in a church gospel choir, which led to spots singing backing vocals for artists such as Phil Spector and Bob Dylan.Her singing talent and years of studying piano and composition led to a job writing for Motown at the behest of Pam Sawyer. The scale of the task ahead was rammed home when, on May 3, 1976, Marc and Gloria Jones went to see David Bowie play Wembleys Empire Pool. He changed his name to Marc Bolan, released a flop of a record for Decca called The Wizard, and then, ever alert for a trend, joined the flower-power, LSD and mysticism cults that flowed around the Hippies of 1967. Rock singer Marc Bolan, 29, was killed early this morning in a car crash. She was gorgeous. The car was driven by his girlfriend, American singer Gloria Jones, who crashed into a tree in Gipsy Lane, Barnes, in London. One of these must be true. Its all writ. Motown. There was no one there apart from me. Late reply: This entire situation sounded horrific. Nobody could have foreseen that., Estranged wife June Bolan (ne Child) went to pay her respects to Marcs dead body. Bowie was due to guest star on Bolan's ITV series . For you to say its unfortunate that she didnt also die and take pleasure in her being ripped-off from Marcs inheritance is just appalling and you should be ashamed of yourself. Well her brother and her Career along with the song writing should not of left her destitute but I dont know the in and outs of why she claims to have been very poor as a bonus David Bowie put in place in education facility for Marcs son. That was how Geoffrey Bayldon [the actor in Catweazle] got a part in the Born To Boogie movie. On September 16, 1977, he was killed in a car accident, crushed in the passenger seat of a Mini driven by girlfriend Gloria Jones. He sang about the 80s just before his death and before Prince sang about the 90s in the 80s. He installed a caretaker and three years later sold it for about 70,000 without hardly ever visiting. Yes, a movie is long overdue. The bad years had taken little toll of his looks, but he would have been 30 next year. Someone here is a fantasist; a liar; or, has some private motive: possibly attention-seeking. Bless you Marc and thank you for simply being you . You might have seen me on Top Of The Pops. It was absolutely brilliant. I think I was still a schoolboy, actually, recalls Captain Sensible of The Damned. Wikipaedia is very useful . Lots of factors were present that wouldnt help. Oh, no. Then this girl appeared. I had a soft spot for Marc Bolan but back then there werent no internet, so we had no real access to detailed news etc. This is not factually true. Do you have any unpublished photos, anything, that we might all enjoy, please, from that time ? Marc Bolan singing his first hit, Ride a White Swan. BOB HARRIS OBE Gloria Richetta Jones . The couple's son Rolan Bolan settled in Los Angeles and became a musician and model for clothing brand Tommy Hilfiger. Soon after joining T. Rex, Jones and Bolan became romantically involved. He found it within a year, with a single called Ride a White Swan that combined the bizarre imagery of his Hippy days with a driving, insistent rhythm that spelled commercial success. Marc Bolans mini-revival ended abruptly in the early hours of Friday, September 16, 1977. Marc loved it all. Specifically, she broke her jaw, leg, and foot, as well as suffering serious internal injuries. Together, they had a son, Rolan Bolan (b. And maybe acting, too., Steve Harley: The world was a mirror to him. Pills to wake up and pills to go to sleep. Fallon invented the term T.Rextasy and was immortalised as purple-browed Beep in Telegram Sam. But I adored all that. But hold on. "When I arrived a girl was lying on the bonnet and a man with long dark curly hair was stretched out in the road - there was a hell of a mess, I rushed to get the police," he said. When I started out with Tyrannosaurus Rex the press were always very good to me no one ever understood me, but it was quite nice, they helped to give me exposure. People got as weirded-out with Marc as they did with Bowie. Youre clearly a nasty, small-minded clown who needs someone to blame for this. Marc Bolan's Rock Shrine is a memorial to Marc Bolan, of glam-rock band T. Rex, on the site where he died in a car crash in Barnes, London, on 16 September 1977.Bolan was a passenger in a car which hit a part-metal and wood fence and then a sycamore tree on Queen's Ride (part of the B306, close to Gipsy Lane).A memorial stone was unveiled at the site in 1997, and a bust of Bolan added in 2002. It covers the accident in near forensic detail and I have located and interviewed pretty much every member of all 3 emergency services who were present and I can assure you that Chris Watts story is Not true. The Singer, song-writer poet, a guitarist was only 29. . Find Gloria Jones stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. A lot of people like what I do, a lot of people dont. While driving home from a London club with Bolan, Gloria Jones lost control of her car, smashing into a tree. Hed just make things up. Phillip Evans-Lowe was driving to work at a local dairy when he witnessed the smash. For the next six and a half years their lives were to continue a universe apart, until late one night they crossed at a sycamore tree by a hump back bridge on the South Circular. She pulled him back to normality. I would be surprised if Gloria had been stone cold sober..but she wasnt charged with any offense. so how easy was he lifted out ? Marc you beautiful man. Where previously he had been. Marc Bolan T. Rex | WitchesBrewPress's Blog. I was suspicious of his story when I first read it years ago. I heard the sad news on medium-wave radio, and I was just shocked. [2] Richard Bevan, interview with Simon Napier-Bell, 19 April 2006: "Well, Marc Bolan never came out but he was completely bisexual. The Godfather. [1] Hackney Hospital, London, England. They might be using one of my characters. Steve Took dropped out in 1969, to be replaced by Micky Finn, whom Bolan met in a health food restaurant. It didnt mean anything. marc was actually thrown into the backseat, and new evidence suggests that a metal spike entered his eye. What Chris didnt know was that he had been in at the death of one of the most flamboyant figures in British pop music of the second half of the 20th century. Elvis had died not long before, and I was round Marcs house when the news broke. My book: Marc Bolan. She sang backing vocals and played clavinet with T. Rex from 1973 to 1977. Whatever happened to my teenage dream ? This was the Song that he wrote when I was young I didnt understand but now of course I learned that he had a form of dyslexia. By spring 1976 Bowie had re-energised himself as the ber-suave Thin White Duke and was playing six sold-out shows at the aforementioned Empire Pool on his Station To Station tour. His purple Mini was being driven by his girlfriend Gloria Jones, when it swerved over a bridge and crashed headlong into a sycamore tree. Bolan and his girlfriend Gloria Jones were out clubbing when she crashed their car into a tree. It was his first real hit, and Bolans elfin face and wispily Afro hair style suddenly hit the front pages, dominated the music magazines and almost single-handedly created the teeny-bop phenomenon. He was only now attempting to reassert his mercurial talents, and re-establish his popularity. Mark Feld grew to fame as Marc Bolan, had the number one records, the dabblings with drugs and alcohol and kinky sex that are the first fruits of rock success, and he died in a car crash in the early hours of yesterday morning, just as he once foresaw. Gloria Jones is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, is recognised as The Queen of Northern Soul. . However, Steve Harley believes Bolans endorsement of punk was purely a means to an end. They were returning to Bolan's home in Richmond after a night out in central London . Image supplied by Memory Lane Prints. For the last couple of years Ive been researching and writing a book which covers the last few months of Marcs life. Six months later T. Rex bassist Steve Currie was killed in a road accident in Portugal. Marc wanted to live forever. If, people want racism to go away, then it needs to be taken seriously, not thrown around like calling everyone who disagrees with you one. He was right. Welcome to Bolan world, the light of love shines on ! He was a passenger in a mini driven by his common law wife Gloria Jones. Singer Marc Bolan (1947-1977) on a tour bus in June 1972. He was grounded in many respects. And tights. Russell, I was 19 at the time, and could not believe what I was hearing on the radio. I mocked him, constantly. The tree itself, leaning over a small . No names mentioned, but the reality more often than not fails to live up to your fantasy. Im not sure on your comment , but please feel free to ask . Until a face-to-face meeting is arranged between those concerned, the event shall always be associated with tedious, time-wasting, appalling lies. It was 40 years ago on 16 September that Marc Bolan died in a car crash in southwest London at the appallingly young age of 29. It was a Jewish ceremony. Thanks for reading this. He was, in fact, killed when his Mini hit a steel-reinforced fence post. I couldnt even believe hed died., I was sitting out in my garden. Why do people continue to diminish the word racist? R.i.p. We were working on this rock opera called The Children Of Rarn, and I was dying to get back to him and do that one properly. I know exactly how you feel Susan. Marc had been drinking heavily for most of the day. Stan doesnt really like Conan that much, did you know? Felt like someone ripped my heart out. It was thought Bolan was killed when his car hit the now much-beribboned sycamore tree. And. Jones broke her jaw in the accident. He offers his perspective on Bolan versus Bowie: Yes, Marc was a rocknroll boy. Gloria suffered a broken jaw and broken arm, but Marc was killed instantly in the crash on September 16, 1977.