Musician J. Geils dead at 71
Guitarist led band known for ‘Centerfold’ and ‘Love Stinks’ through 11 studio albums
GROTON, MASS.— Musician John Warren Geils Jr., founder of the J. Geils Band known for such hits as “Love Stinks,” “Freeze Frame” and “Centerfold,” has died in his Massachusetts home at 71.
Groton police said officers responded to Geils home around 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday for a well-being check and found him unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“A preliminary investigation indicates that Geils died of natural causes,” police said in a statement.
The J. Geils Band was founded in 1967 in Worcester, Mass., while Geils was studying at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
The band released 11 studio albums before breaking up in 1985.
They reunited off and on until recent years.
The band had several Top 40 singles in the early 1970s, including a cover song “Lookin’ for a Love” by the family group the Valentinos and “Give It To Me.”
Their biggest hits included “Must of Got Lost,” which reached No. 12 on Billboard’s Top 100 in 1975.
“Love Stinks,” a rant against unrequited love, was the title song on their 1980 album.
Their song “Centerfold,” from the album Freeze Framewas released in 1981 and eventually charted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot100 in February 1982. It stayed there for six weeks and was featured on MTV.
The band was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the fourth time last fall but was not selected.
“This is our fourth nomination, and going through that process, with its inherent disappointment, you’re not sure you want to take that ride again,” lead vocalist Peter Wolf told Billboard at the time.