One of the memoriable sax lines in rock & roll is being played upstairs.
SYDNEY (AP) — Greg Ham, a member of the Australian band Men at Work whose saxophone and flute punctuated its smash 1980s hits, was found dead in his Melbourne home on Thursday.
Police said the death did not appear to be suspicious, though the cause was not immediately known. A friend who found Ham's body said he hadn't been the same since 2010, when a court ruled that his signature flute riff from the song "Down Under" had been stolen from a classic campfire song.
Victoria state police confirmed that the deceased was the 58-year-old resident of Ham's house but did not identify him by name, in keeping with local practice. Ham was 58 and neighbors said he was the lone occupant of the house.
Men at Work topped charts around the world in 1983 with the songs "Down Under" and "Who Can it Be Now?" and won a Grammy Award that year for Best New Artist.
Frontman Colin Hay issued a statement expressing deep love for Ham, whom he met in 1972 when they were seniors in high school. Hay recalled decades of shared experiences with Ham — from appearing on "Saturday Night Live," to flying through dust storms over the Grand Canyon, to getting lost in the rural Australian countryside.
"We played in a band and conquered the world together," Hay said. "I love him very much. He's a beautiful man. ... He's here forever."
Fortunate was I, if only for one song, to have shared the stage with a legend. A true class act.