JOE STRUMMER (by Frederic Porta)

John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), better known by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead singer of the English punk rock band The Clash. He was also a member of the The 101’ers, The Mescaleros and (temporarily) The Pogues.

 

Joe Strummer was born as John Graham Mellor in Ankara, Turkey on 21 August 1952. His mother Anna Mackenzie, a crofter’s daughter and one of nine children born and raised in the Scottish Highlands, was a nurse. His father Ronald Mellor, was a British foreign-service diplomat who had been born in Lucknow, India. Ronald Mellor had an Armenian maternal grandfather and a German Jewish paternal grandmother.

 

The family spent much time moving from place to place, and Mellor spent his childhood in places such as Cairo, Mexico City, and Bonn. At the age of 9, Mellor and his older brother David, 10, began boarding at the City of London Freemen’s School in Surrey. Mellor rarely saw his parents during this time. He developed a love of rock music listening to records by Little Richard and The Beach Boys as well as American folk-singer Woody Guthrie.

He is one of my favourite singers.