Martin Duffy "had to live month to month" while Primal Scream toured Screamdelica

The son of keyboardist and former Primal Scream member Martin Duffy has commented on his late father’s relationship with the iconic band, and the financial hardship he faced before he died in 2022.

Duffy passed away on December 18th after suffering a brain injury. The 55-year-old had a fall at his home in Brighton.

An inquest into the musician’s death heard earlier this week that Duffy was intoxicated at the time of his fall, and suffered an alcohol dependency at the time of his death.

A coroner said that Duffy, who performed alongside Primal Scream for 30 years, was “advised by some members [of the band] to take some time off and seek help for his alcohol dependency”.

(Image credit: Ollie Millington / Getty).

Duffy's family are claiming that he died in financial hardship after exiting Primal Scream. His son, Louie, said that Duffy was left out of a £5 million deal to sell part of the band’s back catalogue.

A written statement from the inquest (via The Argus) reads: “Dad had played on every Primal Scream album - had songwriting on at least two - but still the band chose not to offer him the opportunity to get his share, at a time they knew he really needed financial help.”

Louie added that the band gave little financial or emotional support to Martin Duffy, who was “not consulted” about the deal to sell Primal Scream's back catalogue. He noted that Duffy had to sign on to benefits in light of the intense financial strain.

“I remember dad telling Bobby Gillespie on the phone that he was having to sign on for benefits to get by as he had no savings but the band offered no support either emotional or financial.”

Louie isn't on Twitter but has been reading the messages of support & has asked me to post on his behalf. He sends a big thanks for the warm wishes and says it's been overwhelming. A difficult week for the #MartinDuffy family but ❤️ from us all pic.twitter.com/wdVY8jGaDI

— Steve Duffy (@SteveDuffy99) June 8, 2023

Duffy was also diagnosed with prostate cancer during lockdown, the inquest heard, and suffered an alcohol addiction that “forced him off tour”. Louie added that his father wasn’t able to return to the band until he was healed.

“After being forced off the tour, I literally saw dad age ten years in a matter of weeks. He was simply not able to cope any more,” Louie continued. “I am well aware that financial reward may not have saved Dad from himself – we will never know

“But I do know that while the band were reaping the rewards from touring Screamadelica, a classic British album, he was having to live month to month – just being paid session fees to perform it – when in fact he had played such an important part in creating it.”