Mental As Anything’s Greedy Smith Dead

Andrew “Greedy” Smith

Very sad news for Australian pop fans, with the news that founding member of Mental As Anything, Andrew “Greedy” Smith has passed away.

According to band manager Grant Bartlett, Smith suffered a heart attack while driving his car in Sydney. He was 63-years-old.

Mental As Anything released a statement outlying their grief at the loss of the singer.

“It is with an incredibly heavy heart to announce that one of the founding members of Mental As Anything, Andrew ‘Greedy’ Smith passed away last night,” the statement read.

“Our grief and confusion at this time are little compared to what Andrew’s family will be feeling — our hearts and prayers go out to them.”

Smith’s sudden death came as a complete shock to the band.

“We are all totally shocked. He seemed like such a healthy, energetic guy,” fellow founder Reg Mombassa said.

“He wasn’t the kind of guy who partied too hard, he enjoyed a drink when we were younger but he was a very serious performer.”

Smith, who performed lead vocals, keyboard and harmonica, co-founded the band in 1976. He was still fronting them as recently as Saturday when they performed in Tathra. The band were scheduled to perform in Melbourne on Thursday.

Smith had a solo career during Mental As Anything’s sabbatical in the 1980s, heading two groups called Greedy’s On The Loose and Greedy’s People. He also performed media work while with the band, including appearances on Molly Meldrum’s Countdown and Hey Hey, It’s Saturday, where he often acted as a judge on Red Faces.

Just last month, Smith was inducted into the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame. 

If you remember Greedy Smith fondly and would like to leave a message or comment, please do so below in the comment section.

Written by Jackson Miller

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