{"id":482912,"date":"2019-03-02T07:03:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T14:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=801955"},"modified":"2019-03-02T07:03:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T14:03:31","slug":"stephan-ellis-survivors-eye-of-the-tiger-bassist-dead-at-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/stephan-ellis-survivors-eye-of-the-tiger-bassist-dead-at-69\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephan Ellis, Survivor\u2019s \u2018Eye of the Tiger\u2019 Bassist, Dead at 69"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stephan Ellis, the former bassist for the quintessential Eighties arena rock outfit Survivor<\/a>, has died at the age of 69.<\/p>\n

Survivor\u2019s longtime guitarist, Frankie Sullivan, confirmed Ellis\u2019 death on the band\u2019s Facebook<\/a>. No cause of death was revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are devastated to hear that Stephan Ellis has passed away,\u201d Sullivan wrote. \u201cSteph was the guy who was only interested in the music. He absolutely had a special charm with the fans and within the band. I loved much when it came to Steph.\u201d<\/p>\n

Survivor formed in 1978, but Ellis didn\u2019t join the band until the early Eighties. The bassist arrived in time to help the group record their 1981 album, Premonition<\/em>, which featured their first Top 40 hit, \u201cPoor Man\u2019s Son.\u201d One year later, Sylvester Stallone approached Survivor to record a song for Rocky III<\/em>, resulting in the band\u2019s signature smash, \u201cEye of the Tiger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEye of the Tiger\u201d topped the Billboard<\/em> Hot 100 for six weeks, while the band\u2019s 1982 LP of the same name peaked at Number Two on the albums chart. The track won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and was even nominated for Best Original Song at the 1982 Oscars.<\/p>\n