Joe Murphy, the singer and bassist who made UK chart historical past together with his band Koopa, has died on the age of 46.
The information was confirmed by his sister Hollie on social media right now (July 7), who wrote: “For individuals who knew him, it breaks my coronary heart to say that my huge brother, Joe Murphy has handed away. Love you huge bro.”
No reason behind dying has been publicly confirmed.
Murphy had beforehand been left critically sick in 2021 after struggling a cardiac arrest whereas driving and crashing his automotive. He spent weeks in intensive care following the incident, together with his sister thanking followers on the time for the “love and messages” despatched to the household. It has not been confirmed whether or not his dying was linked to that earlier well being emergency.
Koopa fashioned in 2000 in Essex, with Murphy on vocals and bass alongside brothers Ollie Cooper on vocals and guitar and Stuart Cooper on drums.
Koopa made UK chart historical past in January 2007 when their music ‘Blag, Steal & Borrow’ entered the UK Singles Chart at Quantity 31, making them the primary unsigned band to succeed in the Prime 40 with a download-only single after new guidelines allowed songs to chart and not using a bodily launch.
The second was celebrated as an early instance of how digital downloads may disrupt the standard report label system. Talking on the time, Murphy stated the band had rejected approaches from labels as a result of they “both needed to vary us an excessive amount of and manufacture us or they couldn’t do something for us that we couldn’t do ourselves”.
Koopa went on to attain two additional UK Prime 40 singles in 2007, with ‘The One-Off Music For The Summer time’ reaching Quantity 21 and ‘The Crash’ peaking at Quantity 16.
The band additionally opened the Isle Of Wight Competition in 2007 and they later signed with Pied Piper Information and recorded the Mark Hoppus-produced album ‘Lies Promote Tales’, which was launched in 2009.
Shortly earlier than the surprising success of ‘Blag, Steal And Borrow’, Ollie and Stuart Cooper’s father Martin, who had invested £20,000 of his earnings into the band, died of a suspected coronary heart assault. Their supervisor Gary Raymond stated on the time: “It’s the best week of our lives and the worst week of our lives. The boys’ dad was one of many driving forces of the band.”
Tributes have since been paid to Murphy by figures from the Essex music scene. Native band The Damaged Johnny’s wrote that they have been “completely gutted” to listen to of the dying of a “native legend”.
Essex Rocks Artistic CIC additionally remembered Murphy, saying he and Koopa had been “a large half” of their adolescence as promoters within the mid-2000s.
