By Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
Angry Anderson was never a man who did things quietly, and by all accounts he kept the flame burning right up until the end. The Rose Tattoo frontman has died at 79 after being hospitalised following a cardiac arrest while on tour in Germany, according to The Guardian.
Born Gary Anderson, he grew up small and scrappy in Melbourne, where he ran with the motorcycle club the Vigilanties and earned the nickname "Mouse" for his diminutive stature — before he set about proving himself against men twice his size and picked up a new name in the process: the Angry Ant. That grit carried into a career as a singer, songwriter, actor and advocate, fronting Rose Tattoo through decades of raw, blues-driven rock and roll and becoming a familiar face as a youth advocate in Australia.
The Guardian's obituary describes him keeping his band's flame burning until the end, a fitting note for a performer who built his reputation on refusing to slow down. He was on the road with Rose Tattoo in Europe when he was hospitalised; the cardiac arrest that followed proved fatal.
Full details of his death — including the specific date, city, and any statement from his family or bandmates — were not included in the available reporting, and we note that gap rather than fill it with guesswork. Tributes from the Australian music community, where Anderson was a fixture for generations, are expected to follow.
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— Compiled from reporting by The Guardian.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."