Breaking News...Music Legend Gaye Delorme Dies on Stage

Sorry for the bad news folks.  Music legend, Gaye Delorme, died of a heart attack Thursday night at the young age of 64.  He was performing a soundcheck for a show in Calgary, Canada when it happened.

Gaye wrote the legendary guitar riff for Earache My Eye which appeared in Up in Smoke and on Cheech and Chong's Wedding Album.  It sold over 14 million copies.  He also wrote 'Me and My Old Lady' and 'Chilly Winds' from the film Things Are Tough All Over, as well as wrote other skits.  He also played on the soundtrack to Next Movie soundtrack.

Gaye was a huge supporter of this site in it's legal troubles with Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.  He often spoke of similar issues working with the duo.  He felt he was never given proper credit for his work with Cheech and Chong.

In a 2008 interview with Vue Weekly, Gaye says he and Cheech wrote Earache My Eye.  Tommy was going to play guitar, but the guitar went missing.  Gaye wound up writing the infamous Earache riff.  Tommy got everyone in the studio, except Gaye, completely stoned.  Tommy Chong re-recorded the song with Cheech so he could claim it was his own.  Tommy frequently claims he wrote the song....which he did not.

He's worked with a number of other musicians including kd Lang (co-produced her first album) and David Foster.  Country fans may know him best from his dirty song 'The Rodeo Song.'

His music was a mosaic of different styles.  In a 2008 interview with The Journal, Gaye describes his guitar playing as "swamp style." His true passion was flamenco guitar.

His years of drug and alcohol abuse caused a number of health issues.  Gaye developed diabetes and eventually became blind, but this didn't stop him from performing.

There was a benefit for him back in January 2008 because he had suffered a number of injuries from a mugging.

He was a brilliant man and a really nice guy.

“When you’re inspired you really play a different way, but when you start thinking like, ‘Oh yeah, people will really go for this,’ it just dies.”


Bio form Gaye's official website...
Internationally renowned guitarist, vocalist and tunesmith, Gaye Delorme is one of the most recorded aural artists on the North American music scene today.  This Grammy-nominated songwriter worked for many years scoring films for Columbia Pictures and recently returned to Canada to embrace his original love of live performance.


Delorme possesses a musical range unparalleled - from gut wrenching blues to improvisational jazz-influenced experimentation to stunning flamenco styling.  He has mapped the existing musical territory and beyond.  He brings his wide-ranging musical influences, from the country stylings of Chet Atkins and Doc Watson to the Brazilian Jobim, into his production work as well.  Gaye has produced such Canadian superstars as k.d. Lang and Jann Arden and co-produced several artists in Los Angeles with critically acclaimed composer David Foster.  For the last 10 years Gaye has appeared as signature performer at the Edmonton Folk Festival where he's hosted the International Guitar Stage.  His own studio work has brought forth five fantastic albums: the "Blue Wave Sessions", a work much compared with Dire Straight's Mark Knopfler; "Borderline", a country rock innovation; "Beautiful Guitar" an international musical exploration of original compositions for Spanish guitar; "Rodeo Songs", some kickin' country comedy crafted around Gaye's groundbreaking hit; and his latest, a compilation of "Gaye's Best".