Praise for Delp Keeps on Flowing

As you probably guessed from Bostonist's comment thread, there are many fans of the late Boston singer Brad Delp, who died last Friday.

Non-Boston papers are offering their evaluation of Delp's contribution to music. The LA Weekly offered a perfect analysis of Delp's skills, which somehow managed to be distinct and anonymous at the same time:

Most of us wouldn’t recognize Delp from a photo, yet his vocal frequencies have been burned into the American eardrum. Seared. There’s just no mistaking his piercing, deceptively boyish falsetto the moment it hits the jukebox, as it does every minute of every night of every week in bars across the country.

Tom Scholz, the MIT brain behind Boston, has posted another kind message on the band's website: "My heart goes out to his wonderful fiance Pamela, his two children and other family members, his close friends and band mates, and to the millions of people whose lives were made a little brighter by the sound of his voice. He will be dearly missed."

Delp died relatively young (though old in rock-star years), which is probably why police are still investigating his death. In the latest news about Delp, police bent over backwards to say that there's nothing suspicious about Delp's death, but they're still investigating: "No autopsy is planned, but toxicology tests are being performed, said Kim Fallon, an investigator for the medical examiner's office."

It's oddly refreshing to see a rock figure who, as far as we know, didn't leave behind a seamy Behind the Music and a bunch of burned bridges. There's a note we came across on a cached page of Boston's official website that says, "VH1's 'Behind the Music' on Boston has been cancelled." We're not surprised. Boston had some squabbles and splits about its direction, but, all in all, Delp left behind a solid public and private legacy.