The folk singer Bill Fay, known for songs such as The Healing Day and Thank You Lord, has died aged 81, his record label has announced with “great sadness”.
Archival releases of demos, and recordings from 1978 to 1981 were released during the 2000s, before Fay released his first studio album in more than 40 years, Life Is People, in 2012 on Dead Oceans.
In a statement on Instagram, Dead Oceans said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Bill Fay, who died peacefully this morning in London, aged 81.
Fay began work on his latest album just a month before his death, and his label Dead Oceans said they hoped to “find a way to finish and release it”.
Starting his career in 1967, Fay’s self-titled debut in 1970 and follow-up Time Of The Last Persecution (1971) on the Deram label, had limited commercial success, but his work was rediscovered in the 1990s, when the albums were reissued, and he became a cult figure.
