Weller mourning loss of manager father

15:36 | Thursday April 23, 2009

Seventy-seven-year-old John Weller passed away on Wednesday morning after a source close to the singer said “he took a turn for the worse”. “He had been ill for some time,” the source added.

Weller senior had played a fundamental part in his son’s music career from day one. Having with the singer’s mother bought Paul his first guitar, he then began supporting an early incarnation of The Jam by booking them into local working men’s clubs.

Weller senior took on the role of managing the band who by their first single In The City in 1977 comprised a threesome of his son, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler.

After the group split in 1982, Weller senior continued to oversee Paul’s career, starting post-Jam with the Style Council and then as a solo artist. His management continued until 2006 when he became ill.

Paul Weller cut short a US tour to return home to see his father for the final time. The singer had been due to play the Nokia Theatre in New York City on Friday, but this has now been cancelled.