Dick Wagner dead at 71

[ELVIS]

Dick Wagner, who played guitar and wrote songs with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, KISS and Aerosmith, has died aged 71.



The musician had contracted a lung infection after heart surgery and passed away in a hospital in Arizona following respiratory failure, Billboard reports.

Just last week, he had posted the following message to fans via his Facebook account: “I love you all very much. I can't wait to play for you all again one day soon. Thank you for all your kind wishes.”

Alice Copper was among the first to pay his respects, describing the guitarist as “irreplaceable”.

“Even though we know it's inevitable, we never expect to suddenly lose close friends and collaborators,” he said.

“Dick Wagner and I shared as many laughs as we did hit records. He was one of a kind. He is irreplaceable.

Alice Cooper was one of many artists Dick Wagner worked with
“His brand of playing and writing is not seen anymore, and there are very few people that I enjoyed working with as much as I enjoyed working with Dick Wagner.

“A lot of my radio success in my solo career had to do with my relationship with Dick Wagner. Not just on stage, but in the studio and writing.

“Some of my biggest singles were ballads what I wrote with Dick Wagner. Most of Welcome to My Nightmare was written with Dick.

Lou Reed, who Wagner worked on Berlin with, passed away in 2013
“There was just a magic in the way we wrote together. He was always able to find exactly the right chord to match perfectly with what I was doing.

“I think that we always think our friends will be around as long as we are, so to hear of Dick's passing comes as a sudden shock and an enormous loss for me, Rock N Roll and to his family.”

[chefcraig]

Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter were an awesome tag team. These were the guys that played the amazing opening suite on "Sweet Jane," from Lou Reed's Rock N Roll Animal live album. Brilliant player, and I'm sad to learn of his passing.

Thanks for your time, Mr. Wagner.

In tribute, feast yer ears on this...

[Kristy]

Another billion dollar dead baby.

[Kristy]

That was a joke, people.

[Mushroom]

That was a joke, people.

Do you know what is worse than a female comedian? A female dopehead who thinks she's funny.

Stick with the seminary school and blowing your pastor.

[Seshmeister]

If you're going to try a funny that soon then you better make sure it's a good one...

[Kristy]

Do you know what is worse than a female comedian? A female dopehead who thinks she's funny.

Stick with the seminary school and blowing your pastor.

Death is rarely funny unless it is one of your generational rock stars. Then it is hilarious.


And for the last time, idiot, I don't attend a seminary school (you could not pay me enough) I just have the misfortune of living way too close to one.

[Nitro Express]

We had a teacher in the 2nd grade who was a real bitch. We all hated her. Someone had left a tennis ball on the stairs and she stepped on it and went for a tumble. She ended up in the hospital and we had a substitute teacher who was a fricken blast. We loved her. Anyways a few weeks later the principal came in all somber faced and told us the teacher had died. All of us cheered. No shit. That was everyone's reaction. The principal and substitute were in shock. We got a heavy reprimand. All I can say, is kids don't lie. She was a real bitch and we were glad she would never darken our lives again.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Someone had left a tennis ball on the stairs and

we know who..

[Terry]

We had a teacher in the 2nd grade who was a real bitch. We all hated her. Someone had left a tennis ball on the stairs and she stepped on it and went for a tumble. She ended up in the hospital and we had a substitute teacher who was a fricken blast. We loved her. Anyways a few weeks later the principal came in all somber faced and told us the teacher had died. All of us cheered. No shit. That was everyone's reaction. The principal and substitute were in shock. We got a heavy reprimand. All I can say, is kids don't lie. She was a real bitch and we were glad she would never darken our lives again.

Jesus, Nitro...

[chefcraig]

We had a teacher in the 2nd grade who was a real bitch. We all hated her. Someone had left a tennis ball on the stairs and she stepped on it and went for a tumble. She ended up in the hospital and we had a substitute teacher who was a fricken blast. We loved her. Anyways a few weeks later the principal came in all somber faced and told us the teacher had died. All of us cheered. No shit. That was everyone's reaction. The principal and substitute were in shock. We got a heavy reprimand. All I can say, is kids don't lie. She was a real bitch and we were glad she would never darken our lives again.

As with just about everything you post, I pretty much expect a high degree of horseshit. This one takes the cake.

Nice job, tiny dick head. It's unlikely anyone will ever take you seriously again, not that anyone did in the first place.

Kristy gets a bi-week, mainly because there is inherent insight in the sarcasm. You lose entirely, ya waste of bandwidth.

[cadaverdog]

As with just about everything you post, I pretty much expect a high degree of horseshit. This one takes the cake.

Nice job, tiny dick head. It's unlikely anyone will ever take you seriously again, not that anyone did in the first place.

That was kind of a harsh reaction to a story about how insensative children can be. I had a few teachers I despised but I can't say I wished any of them dead or would have been happy had one of them died. I had a teacher in Jr High that had a nervous breakdown that I helped cause but even in hindsight that guy wasn't cut out to be a teacher in the first place. He had no control whatsoever over any of his students. One time someone lit up a joint during a film and passed it around and all he did was put his head on his desk and pretend he wasn't there. Doubtful more than one or two students did any work in that class but everyone was getting a passing grade. I can't remember if he even gave us any work to do. I was playing with a matchthrower some guy made out of a wooden clothes pin and started a fire in a drawer full of wadded up paper everybody used as a trash basket. I pinched it like you would to clip it onto the clothes line and the stick match that was in it flew out on fire. I put the fire out before it got out of hand but you'd still expect he'd call the principal or another teacher but he didn't. It wasn't long after that he had his breakdown. The substitute teacher that took over had no mercy for us after he figured out what was going on. The first day he got there we spent the whole class outside getting bitched at and threatened. I was spared some of the punishment because the former teacher listed me as one of the good kids. I think that was based on me putting the fire out. I don't think he knew I started it because he raised his head up for a second and mouthed thank you as I was leaving class. Some of those kids were decent kids but they must have kept quiet about what was going on in that guys class or that shit wouldn't have gone on as long as it did.

[binnie]

God bless the Army - you just never know which way these threads are going to turn!

[cadaverdog]

I found this today and found it interesting. Dick Wagner co wrote this song and played lead guitar on the studio album. I don't know if the improvised part of this video is him or not but it's still Dick Wagner related because he co wrote the song

[Green Manalishi]

Rewind to the late '70's . I bought an album at a garage sale for .50 cents . It was called " Ursa Major " featuring Dick Wagner on guitar and vocals and former Amboy Dukes bassist Greg Arama , it was originally released in 1972. The outstanding track on that album was a rockin' little tune called " Stage Door Queen " which featured a rather memorable guitar jam right smack in the middle of the song . Fast forward a few short years another classic live album featuring duo lead guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter was " The Alice Cooper Show " from late 1977 . That same memorable guitar jam resurfaces quite assertively in an instrumental tour-de-force titled " Wish You Were Here " . Cool stuff ! I believe Dick Wagner did a brief stint with Ted Nugents Amboy Dukes . R.I.P. Mr. Wagner - Thanx for the sonic waves .

[Hardrock69]

As with just about everything you post, I pretty much expect a high degree of horseshit. This one takes the cake.

Nice job, tiny dick head. It's unlikely anyone will ever take you seriously again, not that anyone did in the first place.

Kristy gets a bi-week, mainly because there is inherent insight in the sarcasm. You lose entirely, ya waste of bandwidth.

Well, ya know, he told that same story like.....8 or 9 years ago?


So even if it IS bullshit, he is still sticking to the script.