Rick Buckler, the Jam Drummer, Dead at 69

Rick Buckler, drummer for British rock band the Jam, has died at the age of 69.

Buckler’s former bandmate and lead singer Paul Weller confirmed his death on social media Tuesday. “I’m shocked and saddened by Rick’s passing. I’m thinking back to us all rehearsing in my bedroom in Stanley Road, Woking,” wrote Weller. “To all the pubs and clubs we played at as kids, to eventually making a record. What a journey! We went far beyond our dreams and what we made stands the test of time.”

The Jam bassist Bruce Foxton also shared a tribute to Buckler, writing, “I was shocked and devastated to hear the very sad news today.” He added, “Rick was a good guy and a great drummer whose innovative drum patterns helped shape our songs. I’m glad we had the chance to work together as much as we did.”

In a statement to the BBC, his family said that Buckler “passed away peacefully on Monday evening in Woking after a short illness with family by his side.”

The Jam formed in 1972 while all three band members were in secondary school, and their first album titled In the City released in 1977. The group would go on to roll out 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom including their track “That’s Entertainment” and “Just Who Is the 5 O’Clock Hero?,” which are among the U.K.’s best-selling import singles. Their other top singles included “Going Underground” and “Start!” in 1980, and 1982’s “Town Called Malice” and “Beat Surrender.”

The band went their separate ways in 1982, and the following year, Buckler launched a new group called Time UK with Jimmy Edwards, Ray Simone, Danny Kustow, and Martin Gordon, who was later replaced by Nick South.

In the mid-Eighties, Buckler started another band named Sharp, reuniting with Foxton and Edwards for a short period of time. The drummer would eventually transition into production and run his own studio before stepping away from music to learn carpentry.

He returned to the stage in 2005 as part of the Gift, a new band named after the Jam’s final album release and featuring with Russell Hastings, Dave Moore, and himself. Foxton joined as the bassist two years later and the group began touring under the name From the Jam. Buckler left the group after four years of touring.

In 2015, Buckler published an autobiography That’s Entertainment: My Life in the Jam, and in 2023, released The Jam 1982, which spanned Buckler’s memories of the Jam’s final year. When discussing his memories of the year the trio broke up with The Strange Brew, the musician compared the two books. “When I wrote my autobiography, I just focused on the really good stuff that happened with the band, and probably what most people remember about the band from an external point of view,” he said. “So tackling this issue of 1982 and why the band split up was quite difficult, because I had to cast my mind back to what exactly was happening in that year.”

Looking back at the Jam’s legacy and lasting connection with fans today, Buckler said, “It’s just the fact that we’re still talking about it, and that people are still interested in it, the records are still selling. I have to pinch myself every morning and think well, wow.” He continued, “We didn’t set out to do that, we set out to be for ourselves, we set out to be a great band. That was it, that was all, like playing live and touring. That’s quite a simple ambition as far as we were concerned. So to have this still being listened to all these years later just blows you away.”