Photo: WENN
Founding member and guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company has unfortunately passed away.
The 73-year old, who helped launch the career of the iconic Janis Joplin, passed away on February 12th, ten weeks after he suffered a heart attack.
Big Brother and the Holding Company wrote on their Facebook Page: “Yesterday, ten weeks after his heart attack and the open-heart surgery that followed it, Sam lost his gallant fight to hold onto the life he lived so well. He died peacefully in [wife] Elise's arms at 5:15 pm. There will be much more to say about him in the days to come and there will come a time when we will gather together to remember him… For now we can all remember him in our own ways until we can remember him together. He lived his life in music and art and a loving marriage. It doesn't get much better than that.”
Andrew formed Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1965, out of the San Francisco folk scene. Since then, the band have released six studio albums and Andrew recorded I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! with Janis Joplin.
