Roger McLachlan (15 January 1954 – 16 April 2025) was a New Zealand

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

ist based in Australia. He was an early bass player for

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums reached the top ...

Early life

McLachlan was born on 15 January 1954 in the small town of Riverton, near

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

, New Zealand. He moved to Australia in 1974 to join the touring band for the stage musical ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set t ...

''.

Little River Band

In 1975, McLachlan was invited to join the supergroup

, replacing the short-tenured Dave Orams. He appeared on the first two albums ''

'' and '' After Hours'', and toured extensively, making 311 appearances with the band. He was replaced by George McArdle in 1976. By 1998, all original members of Little River Band had left. Guitarist Stephen Housden gained ownership of the band name, and asked McLachlan to re-join. He remained with the band for a year, until the pressure of touring in the United States led him to depart again.

Subsequent career

McLachlan joined

country-rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

outfit

Stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

in 1976, remaining with them into 1977. He was a member of the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

-rock-experimental band Pyramid with David Jones,

David Hirschfelder David Hirschfelder (born 18 November 1960) is an Australian musician, film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cu ...

and Bob Venier, releasing albums in 1980 and 1983, and touring Europe in 1983. As a session musician, he played the bass parts on the international

John Farnham John Peter Farnham (born 1 July 1949) is a British-born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until the mid-1970s, billed as Johnny Farnham. He has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...

hit "

You're the Voice "You're the Voice" is a song recorded by Australian singer John Farnham released in 1986. It became an immediate hit in Australia as well as several European countries including the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was released as a single in Sept ...

" and also recorded fretless bass for "Touch Of Paradise" from the same album. In the 1990s he joined Geoff Achison's on-going band The Souldiggers, recording several albums and continuing to tour Australia. In 2012 McLachlan recorded a solo album: ''Roger This Roger That''. He re-released the album with a live performance at

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

venue The Fyrefly in 2019. He was part of the Stars re-formed lineup of 2019. They have released a live DVD, and two new albums: ''Boundary Rider'' and ''One More Circle Round the Sun''.

Death

McLachlan died from pancreatic cancer on 16 April 2025, at the age of 71.

References

External Links

* * 1954 births 2025 deaths People from Riverton, New Zealand New Zealand bass guitarists New Zealand male bass guitarists New Zealand rock musicians Little River Band members New Zealand expatriates in Australia New Zealand guitarists Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Australia Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) {{NewZealand-musician-stub