Where the Bay City Rollers are now – addictions and fallouts to tragic deaths
The Bay City Rollers were one of the best-known rock bands of the Seventies.
Capturing the hearts of teenage girls around the globe, they were mobbed by fans wherever they went.
The tartan-clad Scottish rockers were hailed as ‘the biggest group since The Beatles’ when they burst onto the scene in 1974.
After a change in line-up, the ‘classic five’ rollers consisted of lead singer Les McKeown, Eric Faulkner and Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood on guitar, Alan Longmuir on bass and his brother Derek Longmuir on drums.
While the band’s manager Tam Paton, who catapulted them to fame, was dubbed the ‘Sixth Roller’.
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The Bay City Rollers were dubbed 'the biggest band since The Beatles' (Getty Images)In their 1970s heyday, the Bay City Rollers sold over 150 million records and had huge number 1 hits in the UK with Bye Bye Baby and Give A Little Love.
Other big hits included Saturday Night, which got to number 1 in the US, Remember, Shang-a-Lang and Summerlove Sensation.
Here we look back on what happened to the band, who split in 1978 before making several comebacks, from sexual abuse claims and money woes to deaths.
Alan Longmuir
Alan Longmuir was dubbed 'the original Roller', but was practically broke when he died (Redferns)
Alan died in 2018 aged 70 after contracting a mystery illness in Mexico (Daily Record)Known by many as the ‘original Roller’, bassist Alan Longmiur founded the band aged 17 in 1966 with his brother Derek, who played the drums.
The band’s original name was the Saxons, but wanting to sound more American to suit their rock ‘n’ roll sound they later became Bay City Rollers.
‘Bay City’ in Michigan was picked after they threw a dart at a map and that is where it landed.
Despite his success as part of one of the world’s first boy bands, Alan died in 2018 at the age of 70 practically broke.
The Edinburgh-born musician, who has suffered a heart attack and stroke previously, passed away in hospital after contracting a mystery illness in Mexico.
He left behind his wife Eileen, stepsons Nik and Kyle, and son Jordan from his marriage to his first wife Jan.
When the band split, Alan lost money in some bad investments – including buying a Scottish hotel – and returned to work as a plumber earning around £30,000 a year.
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This was a bit of a climbdown for a man who once had breakfast with Barbra Streisand, had Britt Ekland as a guest at his birthday party and appeared on the same bill as the Bee Gees and Elton John.
When he died, his family released a statement which said: “He would humbly say he was ‘just a plumber from Edinburgh who got lucky’. However, we are the lucky ones, the ones that were lucky enough to have Alan as part of our lives.”
Les McKeown
Les McKeown was the heartthrob of the band (Redferns)
The Bay City Rollers at the height of their fame (Michael Ochs Archives)Lead singer Les McKeown joined the band in 1973 just before they hit the big time and was the most lusted pin-up of them all.
But his life was blighted by scandal, from booze and drugs to affairs with men and women and several run-ins with the law.
In 1975 he killed an elderly neighbour as a result of reckless driving. While he was cleared of causing her death, that and allegedly being raped by Bay City Roller’s manager Tam Paton, sent him into a downward spiral of drink and drugs.
After “going off the edge”, Les – who once dated Bond girl, Britt Eckland - was sacked from the band at the age of 22.
Les battled drink and drug addictions and was 'secretly bisexual' (WireImage)Les launched a solo career in Japan, married Japanese girlfriend Peko and had a son called Jubei.
But he later disclosed he was a “secret bisexual” who had around 12 gay affairs throughout his marriage.
He also faced a further drunk driving conviction in 2004 and drug charges for possession of cocaine in 2006, of which he was cleared.
In 2015 he rejoined the Bay City Rollers and toured with them until his death in 2021 at the age of 65 after having a heart attack at his home in London.
Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood
Stuart 'Woody' Wood continued a career in music after the Bay City Rollers split (Redferns)Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood was just 15 when he joined Bay City Rollers and barely knew how to play guitar.
Despite this, the now 66-year-old became part of the ‘classic’ line-up until the band parted ways when Stuart was barely in his 20s after a string of bust-ups.
One of the biggest points of contention between band members was how much manager Tam Paton had swindled them out of money – allegedly to the tune of £5 billion in today’s money.
Giving an interview to The Telegraph in 2019, he revealed band members Erik Faulkner and Derek Longmuir no longer talk to him despite him reaching out.
Stuart appears in new documentary Secrets of the Bay City Rollers (ITV)Detailing the band’s money woes, he said: “Lots of money was made, let’s put it that way. It was a lifestyle we enjoyed for a few years.
“I didn’t buy anything lavish for myself but did buy my grandparents and parents their houses. I didn’t go in for expensive jewellery or clothes. Life was all about recording, and playing gigs. It was an endless cycle.
"If we’d been around today, the sponsorship deals would have been immense, but back then it wasn’t the case. Or maybe it was and nobody told us!”
Continuing a career in music, Stuart said he “went from sell-out concerts in massive venues to tiny clubs and pubs”.
He went on to set up a Scottish music label and now performs his own version of the Bay City Rollers.
The rocker is thought to still be living in Edinburgh with his wife Denise.
Eric Faulkner
Eric Faulkner has played Glastonbury Festival since leaving Bay City Rollers (Getty Images)
Eric continued making music, but has disappeared from public life in recent years (Daily Record)Bay City Rollers guitarist Eric Faulkner, who is also from Edinburgh, joined the band in 1972 and played a crucial role in writing some of their biggest hits.
But during the band’s heyday, he hit the headlines for apparently trying to take his own life in an attempted overdose.
Luckily he survived and the now 69-year-old has also remained in music over the years and transitioned into folk music.
He founded the band The Eric Faulkner Co-operative and has performed with the band 3 Men & Black and as a solo artist at Glastonbury.
In 2007, Eric and five other former Bay City Rollers members filed a lawsuit against Arista Records for alleged breach of contract for unpaid royalties.
This was eventually settled out of court in 2016, but it is thought each member only walked away with around £70,000 each rather than the millions – or even billions – they made during their career.
It is not known if Eric is in a relationship or has any kids. Music journalists have noted how he has ‘disappeared’ from public life in recent years.
Derek Longmuir
Derek Longmuir founded the band with his brother Alan, but later worked as a nurse (Redferns)
How Derek looks now. He was last working as a nurse in Scotland (PA)Founding member Alan’s younger brother Derek was just a teenager when they formed the band in the 1960s.
But after the band split in the 1970s, he went to work as a nurse at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
In 2000, Derek was arrested for possessing child abuse imagery and pleaded guilty “to avoid a media circus” despite saying the offending materials belonged to an acquaintance.
He was ordered to complete 300 hours of community service and initially lost his job as a nurse, although this was later reinstated.
Derek’s foster son Jorge claimed to the Sunday Herald he had been framed by an obsessed American fan he had befriended with discs being sent to his home anonymously in the days before he was arrested.
Tam Paton
Bay City Rollers' manager Tam Paton has been accused of sexually assaulting members of the band (Getty Images)Dubbed the ‘Sixth Roller’, Tam Paton was the manager of the Bay City Rollers who catapulted them to fame – but also screwed them out of money.
In addition to this Tam, who died of a heart attack in 2009 aged 70, has also been accused of sexually assaulting one of the band members.
The band’s former lead singer Les McKeown claims he was drugged and raped by Paton in the Seventies.
Compared to Jimmy Savile in a new ITV documentary set to air next week, a later member of the Bay City Rollers line-up, guitarist Pat McGlynn, 65, says he was also abused by Paton.
Openly gay Paton was convicted of gross indecency with two teenage boys in 1982, who were then below the legal age of consent which was 21. He served one year of a three-year prison sentence.
He was later fined £200,000 after admitting to supplying cannabis.
Then in 2003, he was arrested on child sex abuse charges but later cleared.
Police were told of former Bay City Roller Pat McGlynn’s account that Taton allegedly tried to rape him, but decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
* Secrets of the Bay City Rollers airs at 9pm on Thursday June 29 on ITV and ITVX
If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
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