Gary “Angry” Anderson, the longtime singer of Rose Tattoo, died on Monday, September 21, at 79, according to a statement from his family and band published two days later. They said he was surrounded by loved ones in Australia and asked for privacy, adding that they would not give interviews. The statement did not specify a cause of death. Rolling Stone Australia reported the announcement on September 23, and The Guardian also reported his death at 79.
Before Rose Tattoo, Anderson fronted Buster Brown, a Melbourne band whose 1974 album Something to Say came before his best-known work. The Guardian notes that the group included AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd. Anderson was still developing the big, unmistakable voice that would become the center of Rose Tattoo: blues foundations pushed into a louder, more forceful kind of rock.
Rose Tattoo formed in Sydney in 1976 and released its self-titled first album in 1978. Songs including “Bad Boy for Love” and “Rock ’n’ Roll Outlaw” helped establish a sound that The Guardian describes as a distinctive part of Australian rock. Anderson’s voice cut through the guitars, giving the songs an intensity that audiences could recognize immediately. Rolling Stone Australia also lists “We Can’t Be Beaten” and “Nice Boys” among the group’s enduring songs.
The band’s path was not a straight climb. The Guardian recounts that radio and mainstream television initially gave Rose Tattoo little room, and the group lost momentum at home. In Britain, the first two albums reached No. 1 on heavy-metal charts in 1981. The third album, Scarred for Life, later yielded the Australian hit “We Can’t Be Beaten” before the classic lineup split. The Guardian describes Anderson’s later return to the public eye as a gradual one, through music, television and youth advocacy.
Rose Tattoo’s reach was visible again in 1993, when Guns N’ Roses invited the band to support shows on its Use Your Illusion tour. The Guardian reports that Anderson received an Order of Australia that year. Rose Tattoo was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006, Rolling Stone Australia reports. The Guardian traces their influence through later Australian punk and hard-rock acts and the British heavy-metal scene.
Anderson also found an audience far from Rose Tattoo’s hard-driving sound. His 1987 solo ballad “Suddenly” reached No. 2 in Australia and No. 3 in the United Kingdom, according to Rolling Stone Australia and The Guardian. The song became widely familiar when it accompanied the wedding of Scott and Charlene on the Australian soap opera Neighbours. For many viewers, Anderson’s voice was suddenly part of a shared television memory that had little in common with the band’s raucous stages.
Acting brought him into still other homes. Anderson played Ironbar Bassey in George Miller’s 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and later made regular appearances in the Fat Pizza television and film series, Rolling Stone Australia reports. The Guardian also notes appearances on Australian television programs including Midday Show and A Current Affair. He moved between those roles and the band without leaving behind the presence that made him instantly recognizable.
Some of Anderson’s longest-running work took place away from music and screens. The Save Our Sons Duchenne Foundation said in its September 24 tribute that he stood with its families for more than a decade as an ambassador, helping raise awareness for people living with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy. In 2015, he joined the foundation’s first Walk for Duchenne from Sydney to Canberra. The organization says he returned for events and galas, travelled on its behalf, and appeared in awareness campaigns, giving his name and time to families and young people.
The Guardian also records more complicated parts of Anderson’s public life, including anti-immigrant views and his political campaigns. A remembrance does not need to flatten a person into a single image. The musical force of Rose Tattoo, his work on screen, his support for Save Our Sons and the political record all belong to a truthful account of the public figure he was.
The family and band described Anderson as a devoted father, bandmate and friend, and asked people to respect their privacy while they grieved. Save Our Sons remembered not only his public profile but the time he spent alongside its families. Across concert stages, television, film and charity events, Anderson used a voice that was difficult to mistake—and, in the foundation’s account, chose to lend it to people who needed one.
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