Gentle Giant’s Ray Shulman Dead At 73

Gentle Giant’s Ray Shulman has died at 73. His brother and bandmate Derek shared the news in a Facebook post, writing: “I was with him until the end as he bravely battled a long illness. At least I know he is now at peace.”

Shulman was born in 1949 in Portsmouth. He started making music with his brothers Derek and Phil while he was still a teenager. For a time, they were known as Simon Dupree And The Big Sound, and they had a top 10 hit in the UK with the psychedelic “Kites.” After releasing one studio album, 1967’s Without Reservations, they reformed as Gentle Giant.

The Shulman brothers teamed up with a number of different musicians to make a series of progressive rock albums, starting with their self-titled debut in 1970 and spanning ten other albums over the next decade. After Gentle Giant broke up in 1980, Ray Shulman went on to produce albums for the Sugarcubes, the Sundays, Ian McCulloch, and more.

“Ray really was a genius in so many ways,” his brother Derek wrote in his post. “He was such a kind and caring soul. He was an incredible composer, musician, music producer & tech wizard. He was a true artist and preferred to stay in the background and let his body of work speak for him rather than talk about himself.”