Bachman was 69

Founding drummer for Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), Robbie Bachman, has died at the age of 69. It’s unclear how he passed, but his brother and bandmate, Randy Bachman, shared the news on social media on Thursday (Jan 12th).

“Another sad departure. The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad & brother Gary on the other side,” Bachman says. “Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock ‘n’ roll machine and we rocked the world together.”

The rockers formed in Ontario, Canada in 1973 and charted five top 40 albums, six US top 40 singles and 11 in Canada. BTO has five Gold albums and one Platinum in the US with six Platinum and one Gold in their native country.

The group’s hits include “Taking Care of Business,” “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” “Let It Ride,” and others.

In 1977, Randy left the group over conflicts about their musical direction. They continued without their original vocalist, releasing two albums with Jim Clench that failed to spark any success. The group eventually disbanded in 1980 before reuniting in 1983 with Randy, sans Robbie who was in a trademark dispute with his older brother and band frontman.

Robbie returned to the band in 1988 and remained a member until the group disbanded again in 2005. Randy and Turner revived the band four years later without Robbie again due to the ongoing dispute, but rejoined his former bandmates for their 2014 induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.