Brian James, founding guitarist of The Damned has gone out in style—buried at sea like a leather-clad Poseidon. The punk pioneer previously passed away peacefully on March 6 at the age of 70.
Now, according to his final wishes, he’s officially been laid to rest somewhere beneath the waves off the coast of Newhaven, East Sussex. Here there’s no mausoleum or gravestone. Just fish, saltwater, and a very punk lack of tradition.
His widow Minna, son Charlie, and a small crew of nine friends reportedly set sail from Eastbourne on April 28 to fulfil James’ request. “It was a beautiful day and the sea was calm,” Minna said. “A burial at sea is pretty unusual, but it was in his will so we had to do it.” You don’t argue with the dying wishes of a man who co-wrote ‘New Rose’.
It’s the kind of move that makes perfect sense for a man who co-founded The Damned in 1976 and helped blow the doors off the UK’s rock scene before the Sex Pistols even tuned up. With Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies in tow, James helped make punk loud, fast, and fun—and just a little bit weird. His 1977 exit from the band only cemented his reputation as a no-bullshit original.
A source told The Sun, “Brian now sleeps with the fishes, which is what he wished for before he died.” Look, most of us won’t make it to 70, let alone earn a pirate’s send-off. So it’s almost too fitting.
Captain Sensible paid tribute to his old bandmate after his death was announced, writing: “A lovely bloke… who chose me to help in his quest for the music revolution that became known as punk.” That revolution started with Brian, and ended, rather appropriately, somewhere in the English Channel.
Brian James was punk to the core. And now, in death, he’s proven it was not just a phase. Long live the king of nautical nihilism.
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