Hall & Oates bassist T-Bone Wolk dies
Mar 2nd, 2010 by Bilal Ali
Tom “T-Bone” Wolk, who played bass for nearly 30 years with Daryl Hall and John Oates and also recorded with Elvis Costello and Billy Joel, died Saturday of an apparent heart attack.
Wolk was to have performed with Hall and Oates Monday as part of the one-year anniversary show for NBC’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” Wolk’s age was unknown.
A Yonkers, N.Y., native, the musician played bass on Kurtis Blow’s early rap classic “These Are the Breaks” and between 1986 and 1992, served as the bassist for the “Saturday Night Live” house band, where he became familiar for his omnipresent black top hat. Wolk also collaborated and recorded with Carly Simon, Rosanne Cash, Bette Midler, Cyndi Lauper, Jewel and Shawn Colvin throughout his career.
But he was best known for his tenure with Hall and Oates, which began with the 1981 album “Private Eyes” and continued until the present day. In addition to his bass work for the duo, Wolk also served as a co-producer on several of their projects.
“To say that I am shocked is the ultimate understatement,” Hall said in a statement. “T-Bone was my musical brother and losing him is like losing my right hand. It’s not if I will go on, but how. T-Bone was one of the most sensitive and good human beings that I have ever known. And, I can truly say that I loved him.”