In Memoriam: Ray Shulman

Ray Shulman

Sad news to report as Gentle Giant bassist Ray Shulman has passed away after a long illness. He was 73 years old. The news was shared by his brother Derek on Facebook.

“I am deeply saddened to announce that my younger brother and my best friend Ray Shulman passed away on March 30th at his home in London,” he wrote. “Ray really was a genius in so many ways. He was such a kind and caring soul. He was an incredible composer, musician, music producer & tech wizard. He was a true artist and preferred to stay in the background and let his body of work speak for him rather than talk about himself.”

Shulman was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1949 and started on the trumpet before expanding to guitar, bass, and violin. He founded Simon Dupree and the Big Sound with his brothers Derek and Phil in 1966. That group broke up in 1969, but the brothers quickly formed Gentle Giant.

The band became highly influential and a staple of the burgeoning progressive rock sound. They released eight albums between 1970 and 1976 that became beloved records for fans. After touring for 1976’s Interview, the band’s sound changed to a more commercially viable one. Their final album was 1980’s Civilian.

After Gentle Giant broke up, Shulman went on to work as a record producer with album credits for the Sugarcubes, The Sundays, Trash Can Sinatras, and more. He also created the soundtrack for video games.

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Ray Shulman.

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Leave a Reply to Jacob feldman Cancel reply

  1. Ray Schulman was a giant musician, no doubt. Certainly belonging to my prog bass pantheon alongside Chris Squire and John Glascock.

  2. Jacob feldman

    I’m still shocked devastated and gutted My ultimate hero and inspiration in all of music incredible epic legendary genius composer bassist multi-instrumentalist backing vocalist from the greatest most obscenely criminally underrated band ever from the bottom of my heart thank you so much for all the incredible music and memories I love you Ray rest in peace maestro

  3. Daniel T

    RIP Ray Shulman.
    Thanks for the music.

  4. Russ

    Rest peacefully Ray. Thank you…