Primal Scream star Martin Duffy was in debt and 'drinking heavily' when he ... trends now
Primal Scream star Martin Duffy died in a drunken fall after he became 'distraught and upset' when was suspended from the band, an inquest heard today.
Duffy, 55, a band member for more than 30 years, had been told to take time out and get help for his alcohol dependency.
Distraught and upset, he began drinking heavily, regularly consuming large amounts of alcohol each day. His son said he had been in debt due to being unable to tour during the pandemic.
On December 15 last year after drinking around two bottles of wine he tripped over, fell backwards and suffered catastrophic head injuries.
He was discovered lying on the kitchen floor of his flat in Hove, East Sussex by his son, Louie, who had gone round to see him.
Duffy, 55, a band member for more than 30 years, had been told to take time out when he died
Primal Scream star Martin Duffy died in a drunken fall after he became 'distraught and upset' when was suspended from the band
Although Duffy was conscious, he had suffered multiple skull fractures and was losing blood.
After initially declining an ambulance his son called 999 at 04.18am and asked for paramedics to be sent.
When it failed to arrive he called again at 04.48 but due to the high volume of calls an ambulance did not arrive until 7.00am.
He was rushed to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton where he was treated before being transferred to Intensive Care.
However his brain injuries were 'unsurvivable' and on December 18 he was declared brain stem dead and life support turned off.
His inquest in Brighton heard that as well as being alcohol dependent, the musician had been suffering and been treated for prostate cancer.
He was also wrestling with financial problems brought about by the Covid lockdown which had left him unable to tour with the band.
In a statement his son Louie said his father was a respected member of Primal Scream for more than 30 years.
In 1996 Mr Duffy stepped in to play keyboards for The Charlatans following the death of original keyboard player Rob Collins
He said: 'This might lead people to believe that he was a wealthy man but this is not the case at all. My dad died in debt and I know how badly this affected him in the last year of his life.
'Anyone who knew my dad knew he was a drinker. In the band's heyday in the early 90s, Primal Scream were as famous for their excess as they were for their music.
'Dad was a functioning alcoholic who had a professional attitude to his work. He was a "binge drinker" when he would drink for two or three days in a row and then stop. He would also have long periods of sobriety.'
He said: 'It was during lockdown when things started going wrong for dad. No gigs meant no income and he got into debt. He was also diagnosed with prostate cancer.'
Louie said his father had also become very upset in April last year when he read the group had sold the band's back catalogue to BMG and he had received nothing despite being in the band for decades.
The inquest heard the band continued touring after lockdown ended and Duffy played with them at Glastonbury in 2022 and a week later travelled with the band to play in Glasgow.
But, the hearing was told, he drank too much and 'messed up' on stage and the following morning was told to 'was told to leave the tour and get help.'
