Joe Strummer Left Us Ten Years Ago Today

Joe Strummer with The Pogues. Photo by Masao Nakagami

Joe Strummer passed away ten years ago today. He died suddenly, the victim of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. He would have been sixty years old now had he skipped that one.

Hellcat Records recently reissued the three classic releases he made with the Mescaleros. You should track those down.

There’ve been many remembrances of the man and his work online. Check out these:

Joe Strummer’s Last Recorded Concert on BBC 6Music

1976 interview in The Guardian’s Rock’s Back Pages

Poplie: Ten Years Without Joe

NPR: Joe Strummer’s Life After Death

SPIN (no longer a print) Magazine: Joe Strummer’s Complex Legacy


If you haven’t ever, I urge you to watch the documentaries The Future Is Unwritten and The Clash – Westway to the World.

You should also check out the activities of Strummerville.