Ian Bairnson, passed away on April 7, 2023, due to Dementia, according to his wife’s post on Instagram. Ian Bairnson was a Scottish musician, best known for being one of the core members of The Alan Parsons Project. He was a multi-instrumentalist, who played saxophone and keyboards, although he was best known as a guitarist. He was also known for preferring the sound of a sixpence to a plectrum. In addition to his work with Parsons, Bairnson was also a member of the band Pilot and played guitar on five Kate Bush albums, including the guitar solo on her 1978 debut single Wuthering Heights.
He was a session guitarist before joining up in 1973 with former Bay City Rollers musicians David Paton and Billy Lyall in the band Pilot and contributed the harmony guitar parts to their hit single, Magic. During this time with Pilot, he first collaborated with Alan Parsons, the record producer on their debut self titled album. It was this relationship that helped incorporate most of the band’s members (bassist/lead singer Paton and drummer Stuart Tosh) into the Alan Parsons Project. He played the distinctive guitar solo on the track I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You from Parsons’ I Robot (1977) album.
As a guitarist, he has been featured on every Alan Parsons Project album, including the 1984 side project Keats. In 2019, Bairnson added guitar solos to two songs from Alan Parsons‘ new album, The Secret, specifically the tracks Years of Glory and I Can’t Get There from Here.
His wife Leila Bairnson wrote on Instagram
“Ian was the sweetest, kindest, loving husband I could ever have wished for and I take comfort that he is resting now up there in his very own piece of ‘Blue Blue Sky,’” Although Ian has left us, his musical legacy stays with us and will continue to delight and brighten our lives, as it did his, forever. I would like to thank the doctors and nurses at Frimley Park Hospital, the managers and carers at Lynwood Care Home and our families and close friends for the love and support they have provided us during these challenging years of Ian’s long battle with dementia.”
She wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday (April 8, 2023).
Ian Bairnson (born John Bairnson; August 3, 1953 – April 7, 2023)
