Manny Charlton, founding guitarist of the Scottish rock band Nazareth, has died, according to a Facebook post from his grandson. A cause of death was not given. Charlton was 80.
Charlton was Nazareth’s guitarist, producer and co-songwriter from 1968 to 1990, and played on the band’s most successful albums, including 1975’s Hair of the Dog, which was RIAA-certified Platinum in the U.S. and featured the group’s biggest hit, a cover of “Love Hurts,” originally made famous by The Everly Brothers in 1960.
Charlton produced Guns N’ Roses‘ early demos, but bowed out of producing their debut album due to commitments with Nazareth. The album, ultimately recorded with producer Mike Clink, went on to sell an estimated 30 million copies globally and became the biggest-selling debut of all time. GN’R recorded “Hair of the Dog” for their 1993 all-covers album, The Spaghetti Incident?
After Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover produced several early Nazareth albums, Charlton took over for Hair of the Dog, and remained the band’s producer until 1983, a period during which they released some 17 studio albums.
Charlton went on to release numerous solo projects, including 2014’s Hellacious, which featured guest appearances from original GN’R drummer Steven Adler, as well as Def Leppard/Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell, Vanilla Fudge‘s Tim Bogert and others.
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.