Tim Bachman, the guitarist who co-founded Bachman–Turner Overdrive with his brothers – guitarist/singer Randy Bachman and drummer Robbie Bachman – and bassist Fred Turner, has died at the age of 71.
Bachman's death was confirmed by his son, Ryder Bachman, in a Facebook post last Friday (April 28). In a previous post, Ryder Bachman wrote that, after his father was rushed to the emergency room due to a medical complication, doctors had found "cancer riddled all throughout his brain."
Though he only performed with the band for a short period of time before being replaced by guitarist Blair Thornton (he would later return for a second stint with the group in the 1980s), Bachman still lent a deft six-string touch to some of BTO's biggest hits.
Born in August 1951 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Tim Bachman was a prolific guitarist by his teens, and in the early '70s became part of the band Brave Belt, which featured his brother, Robbie, on drums, and another brother, Randy (himself already a veteran of the hugely successful band the Guess Who), on guitar and vocals.
Their lineup rounded out by bassist Fred Turner, Brave Belt released two moderately successful albums, and subsequently evolved into Bachman–Turner Overdrive.
BTO, as they came to be known, had limited success with their self-titled 1973 debut LP, but found their footing with Bachman–Turner Overdrive II, which contained Let It Ride, the band's first hit.
The band's blue collar image and no-nonsense, hard-rocking sound caught on with American audiences, who soon proved especially receptive to another BTO II single, Takin' Care of Business.
In early 1974, though, just as BTO began to take off commercially, Tim Bachman left the group, reportedly due to his violation of the band's strict policy of abstention from drugs and alcohol while on the road.
Tim Bachman, however, would reunite with the re-formed BTO in the early '80s, playing guitar and contributing backing vocals to their final album, 1984's Bachman–Turner Overdrive.
After this particular incarnation of the reunited BTO splintered in the late '80s, Tim Bachman largely retreated from the spotlight, and began working as a realtor.
Tim Bachman's death comes just four months after the death of his brother and former BTO bandmate, Robbie Bachman.
"I haven’t posted because my heart has been heavy but the news has announced my brother Tim passed this weekend," Randy Bachman wrote in a Facebook post earlier this week (May 1).
"I am the last of my family on this side with all my memories of our life growing up in Winnipeg. So grateful for that. I’m sure my parents welcomed him home with my other two brothers who have passed in quick succession since the pandemic. I was the oldest. Rest in peace."
