From his days with The Small Faces to his stint with the next phase, Faces, Ian McLagan handled the Hammond B3 with all of the magic one might expect of a super magician. He complemented the higher-profiles of Steve Marriott, and Ronnie Lane, as well as Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. He held his own with Kenney Jones. Over time, Ian McLagan would share the stage with The Rolling Stones, work with other bands like The Black Crowes, and create his own great music, beginning with Troublemaker, is debut solo set back in 1979.
Since the glory days of those stunning years, Ian has helped to maintain the legacy of the band he spent his greatest moments with. Small Faces, and Faces were two of the great bands that Rock and Roll was gifted with for a period all too short. After Steve Marriott left the Small Faces, and after Rod Stewart set into motion a premature end to Faces, Ian McLagan stayed true to the music he began with.
Fortunately, Ian McLagan was able to see the induction of Small Faces, and Faces, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, he was prevented in his attempts to reunite the members of Faces for a final hurrah, one which he can never be a part of now. And while that causes some amount of anger for me, we have to realize that life is the consuming thing that gives for a while, then abruptly retrieves its own gifts.
On December 3, our Ian McLagan left this world in search of the Great Band, who will, no doubt, welcome him with an all-night gig. Ian suffered a stroke on December 2, and succumbed to complications from that same stroke just a day later at the age of 69.
The world will never know another like Ian McLagan. And he will be missed!
Ian McLagan
1945-2014
RIP
I loved the faces!!! They were my favorite band in the 70s! RIP My Brother u will be missed