Brett Tuggle, a veteran keyboardist who toured with the David Lee Roth Band, Fleetwood Mac, Rick Springfield and many other artists, died on Sunday, June 19, “from complications related to cancer,” Rolling Stone reports. He was 70.
“Our sweet Brett Tuggle made it home tonight,” tweeted Springfield, with whom Tuggle toured and recorded during the mid-1980s. “God bless his beautiful spirit.”
Brett is survived by his two children — son Matt and daughter Michelle.
“He was loved by his family so much,” Matt told Rolling Stone. “His family was with him throughout the entire time of his illness. He was a lovely father. He gave me music in my life.”
Tuggle was a founding member of Roth’s first solo band after Diamond Dave split with Van Halen. He was a member of Roth’s backing group from 1986 to 1994. He co-wrote several songs with the singer, including “Just Like Paradise,” which reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988.
In 1992, he began playing with the Mick Fleetwood side project The Zoo, and he later served as Fleetwood Mac’s touring keyboardist from 1997 to 2017. He also played keyboards on Mac members Lindsey Buckingham‘s and Stevie Nicks‘ solo tours, as well as on Buckingham and Christine McVie‘s trek in support of the duo’s 2017 collaborative album.
In a 2020 Rolling Stone interview, Tuggle explained that he lost his gig with Fleetwood Mac after Buckingham was fired from the group in 2018, claiming that he was perceived as “Lindsey’s guy.”
Most recently, Tuggle had been touring with Buckingham during Lindsey’s 2021 solo tour, but he did not appear at any of the singer/guitarist’s 2022 concerts.
Over the years, Tuggle also played with Jimmy Page & David Coverdale, John Kay and Steppenwolf, Styx‘s Tommy Shaw and many others.
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