Sadly, 45 Years Ago Today, We Lost Badfinger’s Pete Ham

On April 24, 1975, main composer and co-lead singer of Badfinger, Pete Ham, hanged himself in his London garage. Ham had suffered through numerous financial(both personal and professional) troubles for the past couple of years. Plus, Ham had been showing more and more signs of increased mental illness. Ham was only 27.

Over the course of their all-too-brief history, Badfinger always served as the model for the adage, "One step forward, two steps back". For every success they achieved or hit single they seemed to come up with effortlessly, they had some misfortune or crisis that set them back. Time and time again.

With the exception of "Come and Get It"(which was written by somebody named Paul McCartney), Pete was the songwriter for all of Badfinger's hit songs: "Day After Day"; "Without You"(a minor hit for Badfinger, but a huge #1 hit for Harry Nilsson in 1973 and also a #1 hit for Mariah Carey in 1994), "Baby Blue", and my personal favorite from Badfinger, "No Matter What";

Sadly, Pete Ham could not cope with the pressures and traumas of his life and decided he had only one way out. Pete Way died just three days before his birthday and his daughter, Petera, was born just a month after his passing.