Brett Tuggle: The man behind the music

A rock legend has passed away

Brett Tuggle, a former Fleetwood Mac, and David Lee Roth Band keyboardist, died on Sunday, June 19, 2022, at his residence. It is being reported by various news outlets (The Sun, Mirror, Rolling Stone) that he was "in the presence of his complete family" and that his cause of death was losing a battle with cancer.

Fellow musician Rick Springfield said the following on social media Sunday via Twitter."Our sweet Brett Tuggle made it home tonight. God bless his beautiful spirit." Springfield has been outspoken regarding his Christian faith and in Christianity "made it home" or "gone home to be with the Lord" is a phrase often utilized upon death.

This is a way of saying that the deceased has returned to their heavenly home from whence they came to the earth. There is no record of Tuggle discussing or confessing his personal religious beliefs but during an interview with Rolling Stone which is highlighted below, he mentions his grandmother playing church hymns on the piano. Tuggle seemed to be a private man but perhaps Springfield knows something the general public does not as the two men were friends.

Brett Tuggle the early years

Tuggle was born in either 1951 or 1952 in Denver, Colorado, He studied classical piano and learned to play the organ and guitar as a child. During an interview with Rolling Stone, he said the following:

My grandma played piano and my mom did too. My grandparents were ranchers and farmers. In the farmhouse, they had a spinet piano and also an organ. I’d listen to my grandmother play in the early Sixties and she’d play church music or hymns. I heard them, but I started real, proper piano lessons in the first grade". When he became a teenager, he began playing in local Denver bands and later went to Texas, where began playing with touring bands and he learned a range of traditional music styles.

He returned to Denver where he launched the band Head First and in 1979 Tuggle was invited by record producer Keith Olsen to go to Los Angeles where he met a number of recording artists. In 1981 he became the keyboardist for John Kay & Steppenwolf until he met Rick Springfield and joined his band early in 1982.

From 1986 to 1994 Tuggle played the keyboards with David Lee Roth during his post-Van Halen career and returned briefly in 1997. In 1988, he co-wrote "Just Like Paradise" with Roth and the single became a top 10 hit. in 1992, Mick Fleetwood invited Tuggle to be a member of the band The Zoo.

The keyboardist also played with Chris Isaak and Whitesnake as well as toured with Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Lukather from Toto. He had been on tour with Buckingham and had to stop because he became ill. Tuggle's friends have alluded to his having a wife and children in their tributes since his death but the only details related to his immediate family come from Rolling Stone.

No wife was mentioned but the article said that the keyboardist had a daughter, Michelle, and a son Matt, who said that Tuggle's family was "with him throughout the entire time of his illness". Matt added, "He was a lovely father. He gave me music in my life."

Brett Tuggle was a talented musician who could play a wide variety of musical instruments and he also had a great singing voice as well. This is why he was sought after by so many top-name singers and bands. In addition to those already mentioned he also worked with Coverdale Page, Mitch Ryder and Detroit, and Joe Satriani.

Wady Watch once said he was one of the most sought-after side men in the music industry for studio sessions as well as going on tour. Truly he was an unsung hero.