Bernie Lynch, the Perth-born guitarist and songwriter who helped shape the sound of Australian pop music in the 1980s as a founding member of the Eurogliders, died March 12 in palliative care in Perth. He was 65.
According to a Facebook
post by longtime bandmate and collaborator Grace Knight, Lynch had been diagnosed with throat cancer in early 2024. The throat cancer treatment was initially deemed successful, and he was able to return to work. But late last year, cancers began appearing throughout his body—in his bones and organs—and his health deteriorated rapidly. Chemotherapy was considered as a means of extending his life, but according to Knight, he ultimately became too ill to continue with treatment.
The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia confirmed Lynch's death on
Instagram, calling him a "founding member and songwriter" of the Eurogliders and noting that his songs "defined a moment in Australian pop."
Lynch's musical journey began in Perth's late 1970s new wave scene, where he fronted a band called The Stockings before forming Living Single in 1980 with keyboardist Amanda Vincent, according to
Noise11, an Australian digital music news site operated by The Noise Network. After bringing in guitarist Crispin Akerman, bassist Don Meharry and drummer Guy Slingerland, the group began to evolve. The turning point came in 1981, when Knight joined as lead vocalist and the band officially became the Eurogliders.
The group's debut album, Pink Suit Blue Day, was recorded in Manila and released in 1982, producing the single "Without You," which cracked the Australian Top 40. Two years later, the band found commercial success with This Island, which climbed to No. 4 on the Australian charts. Its centerpiece, "Heaven (Must Be There)"—co-written by Lynch and Knight—reached No. 2 in Australia and crossed over to the United States, charting on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Mainstream Rock chart. The 1985 follow-up album, Absolutely, kept the momentum alive, spending nearly a year on the Australian charts and spawning Top 10 singles "We Will Together" and "Can't Wait To See You," both written by Lynch.
At their commercial peak, the Eurogliders toured across Australia and internationally—hitting the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan and New Zealand. The band disbanded in 1989, but reunited multiple times in the decades that followed, releasing albums including a self-titled record in 2005 and Don't Eat The Daisies in 2014. In 2017, the Eurogliders were inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Awards Hall of Fame.
Outside of music, Lynch worked in theatre and soundtrack composition and served as a business manager for fashion designer Collette Dinnigan.
Even in his final months, Lynch remained creatively active. According to musician Harry Brus, who posted a
tribute on Facebook, Lynch reached out to him late last year to play on new recordings. "Hi Harry, Bernie here. I have two songs that I think you would be perfect to play on," Lynch wrote in a message Brus shared publicly. "I'm guessing you are able to record at home and send back to me, I'm in Perth. If you were interested, how much would you charge per song?? Love your playing!! Looking forward to hearing back from you............b x." Brus said Lynch paid him double what he asked.
Singer Adam Thompson, who knew Lynch through shared tours and festivals, described him as a warm and colorful presence. "It is very sobering when a friend leaves us," Thompson
wrote on Facebook. "Flamboyant like myself, Bernie was always offering me a wry 'knowing' smile on the tours and festivals we played on."
For Knight, Lynch's death marks the end of a partnership that spanned nearly five decades and thousands of performances. "Without Bernie's songs there would be no Eurogliders," she
wrote on Facebook. "Songs he wrote as a young man that are still being listened to, songs that 40 years later still get played on the radio, songs that people still sing along to at our shows."
"My dear friend," she added. "We soared high, we grappled in the mud. What an incredible life we shared."
