Tributes have been paid after the death of Herbie Flowers, the session musician whose instantly recognisable bassline on Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side is considered one of the greatest in pop music history. Flowers, who also played bass for David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry and Elton John, has died aged 86, family members confirmed on Facebook.

The news of Flowers’ passing was confirmed by his niece, Lorraine Bassett’s husband, Kevin J Conklin, who wrote a heartfelt tribute on Facebook, saying: “While we knew and loved him as Uncle Herbie, his musical contributions have likely touched your lives as well. He played bass on many of the songs from the golden age of rock … We’ll miss you Uncle Herbie! Rock on.”

Flowers’ career spanned over 50 years and included contributions to recordings by some of the biggest names in music, including Elton John, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Bryan Ferry, among others.

His start as a musician came in 1956 when, aged 18, he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force. There, he played the tuba as a bandsman, before eventually taking up double bass shortly followed by electric bass.

Speaking to Guitar World last year, Flowers shared how his early experiences playing tuba eventually influenced his playing on Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’. “I was a tuba and double bass player, and I wanted the strings to feel like a double bass,” he said. “But there was no intention to be clever. We really didn’t know what we were doing!”

Once his military service was complete, he spent a brief period as a bandsman on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth.

Eventually, he began working as a session musician, lending his talents to producers such as Shel Talmy, Mickie Most, Steve Rowland, Richard Perry, Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti.

In 1969, Flowers became a founding member of the group Blue Mink. Their biggest hit was ‘Melting Pot’, which reached Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart that year. Alongside Blue Mink, he was also a member of T. Rex, Rumplestiltskin and Sky.

By the end of the 1970s alone, it was estimated that Flowers had played bass on 500 hit recordings.

The Iconic Bassline of 'Walk on the Wild Side'

Perhaps his most famous contribution was the bassline he wrote for Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ – taken from his seminal 1972 album ‘Transformer’. It was the only song by Reed to reach the Top 20 in the US charts, and was listed as Number 4 on NME‘s 10 Greatest Basslines of all Time.

Flowers later revealed in a 2005 interview with the BBC that he had come up with the idea for the bassline as he would be paid double as a session musician for playing two instruments.

“People have often suggested that I should have got writer’s credits, but I just helped put an arrangement together,” he said in an interview. “Lou had the chords written out on a piece of paper and my job was to come up with the bass line.”

In another interview, he said: “You do the job and get your arse away. You take a £12 fee; you can’t play a load of bollocks.” The fee was actually, it has been said, the grand sum of £17, which was more than the reported £9 he got for a three-hour session on Bowie’s Space Oddity in 1969.

Flowers is said to have recorded more than 20,000 sessions, including for Dusty Springfield, George Harrison, Serge Gainsbourg and David Essex.

A Legacy of Musical Influence

The official social media pages for Flowers’ late collaborator Bowie wrote of his “incredible musicianship over many decades”, and said the bassist be “sorely missed”. Flowers played on Bowie’s 1974 album ‘Space Oddity’ and ‘Diamond Dogs’ in 1969.

The Charlatans singer Tim Burgess paid tribute, saying: “Farewell Herbie Flowers. He made the greats sound greater.”

Mat Osman, Suede’s bassist, also paid tribute to Flowers, writing: “Ah, damn. RIP Herbie Flowers. So many great basslines – imagine having played on Space Oddity, Walk on the Wild Side and Rock On…”

The music world mourned the loss of a true legend, and his contributions to the world of music will continue to be celebrated for generations to come.

A Life in Music

Flowers was born in Isleworth in 1938 and began his career in the 1960s as a session musician playing for producers including Shel Talmy, Mickie Most and Tony Visconti.

He was a founding member in 1969 of the band Blue Mink, which had chart success with the songs Melting Pot and The Banner Man.

Flowers was always in demand as a bass player and created one of the best known of all hooks for Walk on the Wild Side. It has a brilliant, instantly recognisable ascending and descending twang, but Flowers was modest about it.

In the late 1970s, Flowers founded the instrumental prog rock band, Sky, recording and performing with the band until 1995, releasing seven albums. Other records featuring Flowers include Bryan Ferry’s The Bride Stripped Bare, Paul McCartney’s Give My Regards to Broad Street, and Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds.

A Lasting Legacy

Herbie Flowers leaves behind a legacy that will resonate through the ages. His musical contributions have left an indelible mark on the world of rock and roll, and his talent and artistry will be remembered for years to come. His music will continue to inspire and entertain generations to come, and his legacy as a true legend of the music world will forever be secure.