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John Graham Mellor (b. August 21, 1952 in Ankara,
Turkey; d. December 22, 2002 in Somerset,
England), better known as Joe Strummer, was the
co-founder and lead singer of punk rock band The
Clash, and later Joe Strummer and the
Mescaleros|The Mescaleros.


==Overview==

Before forming The Clash, he played in a band in
Newport, Wales called The Vultures and later, in
London, with the pub rock band The 101ers. During
that time he went by the name "Woody" Mellor, in
honor of his hero Woody Guthrie. While a member of
the 101ers he gave himself the moniker Joe
Strummer, and insisted that his friends call him
by that name. "Strummer" obviously refers to his
role as guitarist, but in a self-deprecating way.
Though left-handed, he was taught to play right
handed by his friend (and later Mescalero) Tymon
Dogg. This dampered his abilities (which were
lackluster to begin with) and confined him to
strumming chords. 

The Clash were the most musically diverse and
overtly political of the original English punk
bands. Strummer was involved with  Anti-Nazi
League and Rock Against Racism campaigns.  He
later also gave his support to the Rock Against
the Rich series of concerts organised by anarchist
organisation Class War. The Clash's London Calling
album was voted best album of the 1980s by Rolling
Stone magazine (although it was released in late
1979). It is suggested that The Clash heavily
influenced the bands U2 (band)|U2, Manic Street
Preachers,Rancid, Green Day, Rage Against The
Machine, Nirvana (band)|Nirvana, the Libertines,
and even hip-hop revolutionaries Public Enemy, and
that The Clash are somewhat directly responsible
for the explosion of garage band|garage bands in
the 1980s and 1990's|'90s.

After the disbanding of The Clash, he acted in a
few movies (including Jim Jarmusch's Mystery
Train), recorded movie soundtracks (notably "Love
Kills" for the film Sid and Nancy) and
experimented with different backing bands (notably
the Latino Rockabilly War) with limited success.
Joe also worked with other bands, he played the
piano on the 1998 UK #1 hit of  The Levellers
(band)|The Levellers, "Just the One". He also
replaced Shane MacGowan as singer of The Pogues
for a tour after the former's departure from the
band. Finally, in the mid- to late-1990s, Strummer
gathered top-flight musicians into a backing band
he called The Mescaleros. Strummer signed with the
Californian punk label Hellcat Records, and issued
a stunning album co-written with Anthony Genn,
called Rock Art and the X-Ray Style. A tour of
England and North America soon followed; sets
included several Clash-fan favourites.  

Following the release of Global A Go-Go, Joe
Strummer and the Mescaleros mounted a 21-date tour
of North America, Britain, and Ireland. Once
again, these concerts featured Clash material
("London Calling", "Rudie Can't Fail"), as well as
classic covers of reggae hits ("The Harder They
Come", "A Message To You, Rudie") and regularly
closed the show with a nod to the late Joey Ramone
by playing The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop".

They also toured Australia in 2000 with the Big
Day Out concert series, to a very warm reception.
Shortly before his death Joe Strummer and Bono of
U2 (band)|U2 co-wrote a song, "46664", for Nelson
Mandela as part of a campaign against AIDS in
Africa. Strummer had been scheduled to play at
Mandela's SOS fundraising concert in February 2003
on Robben Island.

Strummer died on December 22, 2002 in his home at
Broomfield in Somerset, the victim of a myocardial
infarction|heart attack. His untimely death at age
50 shocked and saddened a generation of fans to
whom he had been an inspirational figure. Also, by
words of his Clash bandmembers - Paul Simonon and
Mick Jones - the band, along with Joe and Topper
Headon, was considering at the time of his death
reuniting for a world tour.

At the time of his death Strummer was working on
another album, which was released posthumously in
October 2003 under the title Streetcore. The songs
"Coma Girl" and "Arms Aloft" from this album bear
comparison with the Clash's best work, while the
cover of Bobby Charles' "Before I Grow Too Old"
(renamed "Silver and Gold") is a poignant closing.
The album also features a tribute to American
music icon Johnny Cash ("Long Shadow"), whom Joe
greatly admired for being a man of nobility, a
remembrance of the September 11, 2001
attacks|Sept. 11 Attacks ("Ramshackle Day
Parade"), and a cover of Bob Marley's classic
"Redemption Song", which Strummer had also
recorded in a duet with Cash. (The Cash/Strummer
duet version appears on the 2003 in music|2003 box
set Unearthed (Johnny Cash box set)|Unearthed)

At the Grammy Awards in February 2003, London
Calling was performed by Elvis Costello, Bruce
Springsteen, Steven van Zandt, Dave Grohl, Pete
Thomas, and Tony Kanal in tribute to Strummer. In
March 2003, The Clash were inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame.

In addition to his music, Strummer was
instrumental in setting up Future Forests, an
organisation dedicated to planting trees in
various parts of the world in order to combat
global warming. Strummer was the first artist to
make the recording, pressing and distribution of
his records carbon neutral through the planting of
trees. Many other artists such as Foo Fighters,
Coldplay and Pink Floyd have followed suit and
fans can visit the Future Forests website to buy
trees to be planted in their favourite artists'
forest (Joe's being christened "Rebel Woods").

His 1975 marriage to Pamela Moolman ended in
divorce.  He married Lucinda Tait in 1995.  He had
no children with either wife, but had two
daughters by Gaby Salter, and a step-child of
Lucinda's. In his remembrance, Joe's friends and
family have established the Strummerville
Foundation for the promotion of new music.

==Joe Strummer solo discography==
:see also The_Clash#Discography|Clash discography

* Walker (album)|Walker by Joe Strummer (1987,
Virgin Records|Virgin)
* Earthquake Weather by Joe Strummer (1989, Epic
Records|Epic)

With The Mescaleros
*Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999)
*Global A Go-Go (2001)
*Streetcore (2003)

==Joe Strummer partial filmography==

*The King of Comedy (1983)
*Straight to Hell (1987)
*Candy Mountain (1988)
*Mystery Train (1989)

==Sound samples==
*Media:StrummerCashRedemptionSong.ogg|Download
sample of Strummer's duet with Johnny Cash,
performing Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"

==References==
*Marcus Gray, Last Gang in Town: The Story and
Myth of The Clash, Henry Holt and Co., 1995

==External links==
*http://revolutionrock.co.uk Revolution Rock
* http://www.joestrummer.us/
*http://revrock.proboards52.com/ Joe Strummer &
The Clash Forum
* http://www.strummersite.com/
*
http://www.theonlywebsitethatmatters.com/index.htm
l
* http://www.futureforests.com/
*
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/260
0669.stm
*
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/260
1903.stm When I met Joe Strummer
*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,
864833,00.html Guardian story of Strummer's death
* http://www.strummerville.com/
* http://www.strummernews.com/
* http://www.theclashonline.com/
*
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?
id=9336 Joe Strummer Memorial Tribute Concert by
Billy Bragg - February 22nd, 2003

The Clash