Tim Burgess Reflects on Bandmate Loss and Embracing Sobriety in LA as The Charlatans Release 14th Album

The cultural landscape has changed since The Charlatans and their enigmatic singer emerged from obscurity, carried on the same wave of musical optimism that launched the careers of so many aspirational indie bands. 

But while many of their peers have long since faded – the pioneering Stone Roses imploded in the mid ’90, the equally groundbreaking Happy Mondays disappeared into the self destructive fog of addiction – Tim Burgess and his band have somehow weathered the storm, and released a remarkable thirteen albums along the way.

It’s quite an achievement from a band who have adapted to ever-changing musical trends while persevering though the death of two founding members in keyboard player Rob Collins and drummer Jon Brookes. 

It was Collins’ iconic Hammond organ that defined their legendary second single, The Only One I Know, and the talented musician was influential in the direction they would take as Madchester segued into mid-’90s Brit Pop. 

But as the group completed work on fifth album Tellin’ Stories in 1996, Collins was killed in a car accident close to their base at Monnow Valley Studio in Wales. 

Sixteen years later, Brookes would also pass away at the age of 44 after battling a brain tumour, and Burgess admits the memories of his lost bandmates live on after returning to Monmouth to record We Are Love, their fourteenth studio album, to be released on October 31. 

The Charlatans singer Tim Burgess has recalled the grief of losing bandmates Rob Collins and Jon Brookes as the group prepares to release its fourteenth album 

The Charlatans in 1990 (clockwise from left: Jon Baker, Jon Brookes, Martin Blunt, Tim Burgess and Rob Collins)

‘Rob died at the bottom of the driveway,’ he told The Times of Collins’ death, aged just 33. ‘The recording session had finished and we were out drinking to celebrate the birthday of one of the engineers when we got the call. 

‘Not it feels like a potent memory, but also like a dream: it was ten o’clock, maybe eleven. We went to the hospital and that’s where we found out he had died.’  

Collins was propelled through the sunroof of his BMW after losing control of the vehicle on a country road close to Monnow Valley Studio.

A subsequent investigation revealed he was under the influence of alcohol and had been driving without a seatbelt prior to the accident on July 22, 1996.

‘We knew Tellin’ Stories had the potential to be great,’ Burgess recalled of the LP, which climbed to number one on the UK album chart following its 1997 release. 

‘Even the ballads were bangers. And there was so much going on at the time that we hardly had a chance to stop.’ 

The group would suffer further tragedy with the death of drummer Brookes almost two decades later, just three years after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

‘The Charlatans are like the brothers I never had,’ he said. ‘It’s never been easy. It took two and a half years of pushing and pulling to make this album, and I have nightmares about the band, but the moment we unlock a song together… what can I say? It’s magical.’ 

The Charlatans at Monnow Valley Studio in 2004. Collins was killed in a car accident close to the facility just eight years earlier 

The Charlatans backstage at Reading Festival in 1992 (L-R: Mark Collins, Rob Collins, Tim Burgess, Jon Brookes and Martin Blunt)

Collins (far left) was killed in a car accident close to their base at Monnow Valley Studio in Wales as the band finished work on fifth album Tellin’ Stories in 1996

Now 58, Burgess has given up the rock n’ roll excesses that defined the band at the height of their career, opting instead for a life of ‘nature, walks and smoothies’ after returning to the United Kingdom following a spell in Los Angeles. 

‘Everyone in the band was cool about it,’ the singer said of the group’s reaction to his abstinent lifestyle. 

‘I stopped entirely, the others carried on but at a more manageable level. Coming off stage [without using drugs] was definitely a challenge, but I got used to it. 

‘Now the comedown after the gig is a natural process.’  

Now 58, Burgess has given up the rock n’ roll excesses that defined the band at the height of their career, opting instead for a life of sobriety