Editor-in-Chief, Music
Herbie Flowers, bassist for Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side, dies at age 86
British bassist Herbie Flowers — a veteran musician who performed with David Bowie, Elton John, T. Rex and Paul McCartney, and whose bass line for Lou Reed’s iconic 1973 hit “Walk on the Wild Side” was sampled countless times — died Saturday, according to a social media post from his family. No cause of death has been released; he was 86.
Flowers, a veteran session musician, was a member of the groups T. Rex and Blue Mink. According to the BBC, he had played on more than 500 hit albums by the end of the 1970s.
Flowers was born in 1938 and became a musician in the Royal Air Force in the 1950s. He played the tuba and took up double bass as a secondary instrument. After his military service he began working in jazz bands, performing as a band member on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth and later picking up the electric bass. He soon began working as a session musician for hit producers such as Shel Talmy, Mickie Most, Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti; the latter two led to his work with Elton John and David Bowie, on whose early material he played, including Bowie's 1969 hit "Space Oddity".
