Men At Work’s Greg Ham Found Dead

Greg Ham, multi-instrumentalist from the hugely successful Australian pop-reggae-rock band Men At Work, has been found dead in his Carlton North apartment, confirmed by Fairfax this afternoon. It is believed the body was found at 11.50am. Police are trying to determine the cause of death. He was 58 years old.

It was Ham's distinctive flute riff in the band's smash hit song Down Under that was the centre of a lawsuit between the band and music publisher Larrikin Music, who claimed that the flute part was a direct copy of the classic Australian song Kookaburra. After the ruling the musician told The Age that he would possibly have to sell his house as a result of the decision and that he was unhappy that the case would tarnish the song and how people would remember him.

Along with frontman Colin Hay, Ham was the last remaining member of the band when they called an end to the group in the mid-1980s. The two musicians then got back together in the late-90s for a reunion tour.

Ham is survived by his two children.