Gerry Rafferty

Gerry Rafferty was a Scottish singer-songwriter from Paisley, best known for the smoky, saxophone-driven single «Baker Street», one of the most instantly recognizable songs of the late 1970s. Before his solo career took off, he was a founding member of the folk-rock duo the Humblebums alongside Billy Connolly, and later fronted Stealers Wheel, whose song «Stuck in the Middle with You» became a huge hit and, decades later, gained a second life through film soundtracks.

His solo breakthrough came with the 1978 album «City to City», which yielded «Baker Street» and showcased his gift for richly layered, melancholic pop-rock production paired with plainspoken, emotionally direct lyrics. Follow-up singles such as «Right Down the Line» and «Night Owl» confirmed him as a distinctive songwriting voice of the era, blending folk, soft rock, and polished studio craftsmanship. His albums «Night Owl» and later «Sleepwalking» continued this introspective, atmospheric style.

Rafferty was famously uneasy with fame and the music industry, and after the early 1980s he largely withdrew from public life, releasing music only sporadically. He continued writing and recording in a more private capacity for years afterward. He died in 2011 following a long struggle with alcoholism, but «Baker Street» in particular has endured as a classic-rock radio staple and a defining sound of the singer-songwriter era.