Musicians have been paying tribute to Chas & Dave’s Chas Hodges, who died on Saturday (September 22) after a battle with oesophageal cancer.

Speaking to BBC News, bandmate Dave Peacock hailed Hodges as a “fabulous musician and a fabulous mate. All he wanted to do was play music. He just couldn’t stop, even when he was eating his dinner he’d be humming a tune.

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“When he was having chemotherapy they couldn’t believe it – he even wrote a song while he was having chemotherapy in the hospital. I always say to people Chas and Dave ain’t just a band, it’s a way of life and I’m going to miss him terribly,” he added.

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Before forming Chas & Dave in the mid-70s, Hodges was a session bass player who recorded with Joe Meek and backed Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent and many others. He was also a member of country rockers Heads, Hands & Feet.

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Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and The Rutles called him a “Premier Division musician and human being”. Luke Haines wrote: “What a musician, one of my favourite voices.” The Kinks’ Dave Davies tweeted simply: “Sad day, I love Chas Hodges”.

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