Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
Entertainment
Craig Robertson & James Delaney

Edinburgh Bay City Rollers star's music firm owed £850,000 to creditors

Bay City Roller Les McKeown's music company was worth just over £100,000 when he passed away earlier this year..

The Edinburgh-born star was listed as creative director for London-based Tangent Management Ltd - which posted accounts just weeks before he died.

The firm had “retained earnings” of £114,000 – a small sum compared to the huge amounts said to have been made on the back of the Rollers’ 120 million record sales courtesy of iconic hits including 'Bye Bye Baby'

READ MORE - Heartbroken Scottish couple forced to end dream honeymoon after just three days

According to the Daily Record, McKeown’s company had £981,000 cash in the bank but was left with the smaller sum after more than £850,000 worth of creditors were paid.

The singer was no stranger to financial turmoil, having been involved in more than two decades of legal action for millions of pounds in lost royalties during his time with the band.

Tributes from across the music spectrum were paid when he died, at age 65, from a ­suspected heart attack.

McKeown, who replaced Gordon ‘Nobby’ Clark as lead singer of the 70’s sensations, shot to fame alongside bandmates Alan and Derek Longmuir, Eric Faulkner and Stuart Wood.

He left behind wife Peko Keiko and son Jubei, who has now taken over the running of Tangent Management Ltd.

Decades of legal wrangling followed the Rollers' split in 1978 against their former record label Arista over millions in missing royalties.

In 2016, Sony reached an out of court settlement with the band after a 10-year battle over cash from their global haul of hits.

At one point, the group was said to be owed more than £70million in unpaid royalties.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.