Tetsu Yamauchi, former bassist for Free and Faces alongside lead singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ronnie Wood, has died.
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His family confirmed the sad news in a statement released on X.
“To all of you who have always supported us,” the statement read. “On December 4, Reiwa 7 [The year 2025 in the Japanese calendar], Tetsu Yamauchi passed away peacefully, surrounded by family.”
“We sincerely thank everyone who enjoyed Tetsu’s music and offered kind words until now. Those were fun times. It’s a long time, but a short time.”
No cause of death was disclosed. Tetsu Yamauchi was 79.
The Japanese musician was one of the first from his country to join Western rock culture. He replaced Andy Fraser in the British blues-rock band Free and later joined Faces, taking over for Ronnie Lane, per Clash.
Born in Fukuoka, Japan, in October 1946, Tetsu Yamauchi joined the Japanese progressive rock band Micky Curtis & The Samurais in the late 1960s. He recorded two albums with them, Kappa and Samurai, both released in 1971.
That same year, he teamed up with Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, drummer Simon Kirke, and keyboardist John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick to record a one-off album after Free temporarily split due to disagreements between frontman Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser.
The album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu & Rabbit lacked the intensity of Free and Paul Rodgers’s vocals, but it successfully reunited the band in early 1972. Shortly after, Fraser departed and was replaced by Yamauchi, who contributed to Free’s final album, Heartbreaker, co-writing the classic track Wishing Well.
Tetsu Yamauchi Joins Faces
Free disbanded permanently after a US tour in March 1973. Yamauchi then replaced Ronnie Lane in Faces, staying with them for two years and playing on their 1974 live album, Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners.
Yamauchi’s only studio contribution to Faces was the 1972 single “You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A Walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold Away The Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings).” Unsurprisingly, the song still holds the record for the longest title to ever chart in the UK.
Following the breakup of Faces, Yamauchi recorded his second solo album, Kikyou (his first, Tetsu, came out in 1972). He then worked as a session musician before returning to Japan. There, he formed Tetsu Yamauchi & the Good Times Roll Band, which released a live album in 1977.
In 1985, he formed the Ope Band with drummer Shoji Hano, leading to the 1992 live album Dare Devil with Peter Brötzmann and Haruhiko Gotsu.
Yamauchi spent his last 15 years quietly, avoiding interviews. However, he returned to perform in 2023 and 2024 as Meets Duo with drummer Yoshitaka Shimada from his Good Times Roll Band.
Meanwhile, Free bandmate Simon Kirke took to social media to pay tribute to Yamauchi.
“Just heard that Tetsu passed away,” Kirke wrote on Facebook. “He was a good friend and a great bass player. My condolences to his family and close friends. May he rest in peace.”