Bob “Slim” Dunlap, the beloved “substitute” who joined the Replacements in 1987, has died at the age of 73.
As reported by Minnesota Star Tribunethe musician's death was confirmed by his family with a statement. «Bob died today at 12.48pm, at home, surrounded by family. We played him his CD Live at the Turf Club ('Thank You Dancers!). He left us shortly after hearing his version of Hillbilly Heaventruly touching”, reads the statement. “In the last week his health has worsened due to some complications due to a stroke.”
In 2012 Dunlap, who played guitar in the Replacements from 1987 to 1991, suffered a massive stroke. A key part of the band's stabilization following the departure of founding guitarist Bob Stinson, Dunlap participated in the group's final two albums, Don't Tell a Soul of 1989 and All Shook Downpublished the following year. During this time, Dunlap became a much-loved figure in the Minnesota music scene.
After the group disbanded in 1991, Dunlap released two solo albums. The first, The Old New Medebuted in 1993 with Twin/Tone, the Minneapolis label that released the Replacements' first albums. In 2020 he released the live album Thank You Dancers!featuring music recorded at the Turf Club in St. Paul in 2002.
Bruce Springsteen praised Dunlap's work in a 2014 interview with NPR. «Slim Dunlap is amazing. He was part of the Replacements and made two fabulous rock records that are really full of soul and beauty,” said the Boss. «I hope to have the chance to record one of his songs. Listen to Slim Dunlap's two records because they're just great rock 'n' roll records. I find them deeply touching.”
Dunlap's 2012 stroke left the artist paralyzed. The following year, the Replacements reunited to release Songs for Slim, a five-song benefit EP for the guitarist. At the time, it was the group's first new recording in 23 years and included two songs by Dunlap; earnings from the sale of the EP were used to raise funds for their former bandmate's medical treatment.
“He was in and out of the hospital maybe 40 times,” the band's frontman Paul Westerberg later told Rolling Stone. “We were talking to Slim when he was in the hospital,” Westerberg said. «And I asked him: “Should we play?”. And he replied: “Yes, let's play!”.
From Rolling Stone US.
