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Mickey Finn

Bongo player with 1970s band T.Rex

British glam rock star Mickey Finn, bongo player with 1970s band T.Rex, died in Croydon, south of London, on Saturday Jan. 11 night, possibly of kidney and liver problems. He was 55.

Formed by flamboyant lead singer Marc Bolan in 1967, T.Rex shot to fame with hits such as “Get It On,” “Hot Love” and “Children of the Revolution” in the early 1970s. Finn joined up after stints with the bands Hapshash and Coloured Coat, replacing bongo player Steve Took.

Credited with introducing the phenomenon of “glam rock” to pop music and influencing artists such as David Bowie, the band played to crowds of up to 100,000 and sold 39 million albums. But by 1975, their heyday was all but over amid internal feuds and changing fan taste as well as premature deaths including Bolan in a car crash in 1979, ex-member Steve Took in a 1980 car crash and Steve Currie in 1981 from choking.

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In later years, Finn revived the band as Mickey Finn’s T-Rex, which recorded the album “Renaissance” in 2000 and last performed in Germany on Dec. 28.

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