Talk:Brian Connolly

The Mugging
It's been stated that Connolly was mugged and repeatedly kicked in the throat by his attacker.. has anyone any info to add to this as it seems to be important as to why Sweet didn't reform in the late 80's.


 * He was in early 1974. Apparently it could of been over a women, according to Mick Tucker in a 90's interview. It was outside a pub. It caused considerable difficulty but led to Steve Priest having a greater lead vocal role, LP Sweet Fanny Adams "No you dont", onward.


 * Sweet didn't reform late 80's because Andy Scott disliked Brian Connolly. It was always that way from 1970 to the very end. The other two didn't want to go through it all again. Brian Connolly was also incapacitated somewhat and marketing the album and new band would of been difficult. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.230.3.20 (talk) 05:45, 16 February 2007‎  (UTC)

Australian 1990 tour
From Australia: During the 1990 tour it was revealed Brian Connolly was using a passport with the name McManus on it! Like many famous people a distraction from publicity ?

Somebody obviously hasn't fully researched the 1990 Australian Tour. Brian made at least ONE of the Sydney tour dates, the Enmore Theatre. I should know - I saw him and his band (Brian Connolly's Sweet) there, and Suzi Quatro the same year. (I was intrigued after a work colleague had showed me an article she clipped from People magazine in 1989 stating that Brian had been found living in a cold-water-only flat in England and that he had been persuaded to tour). I should have saved my money. When I went, not only was Brian the only Sweet member I >barely< recognised (why didn't the Internet exist then!), but when he came out to do 'Little Willy', his DTs (delirium tremens) were so bad that he announced the song as "Lii-t-t-tle W-i-ii-l-ll-lll-yy". After a few faltering lyrics, that did it for me. This was first time I ever walked out during a live band's performance (the second being Les McKeown's Bay City Rollers). To quote Harpo Marx, "The death of a great man is sad. It is doubly sad when the greatness passes before the man does." Comment added by --johnr_roberts (talk) 22:00, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Appreciate the tip over the Enmore Theatre. What a shame. I live nearby. I would of been over the moon to see Brian Connolly. The news of the Enmore Theatre date is big news, as it appears not to of been documented, widely, hence our mistake?

Also Brian Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downes Christmas show on the 18th December 1990. Just after Australia. This appears on You-Tube courtesy of long time fan and Sweet observer, Phil Moss.

Kind Thanks.

203.39.34.76 (talk) 06:04, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

McManus/Taggart issues
The issue of Brian being related or otherwise to well known Scot actor Mark McManus ("Taggart") is one which gets raised occasionally. I can assure anyone who cares to listen that I extensively researched this claim and published the results in my book 'No Matter What They Say (2008, HSH Publishing). Brian Connolly/McManus is NOT related to Mark "Taggart" McManus in any way. Brian was fostered and had a foster brother named Mark McManus who was NOT the person who went on to play Taggart. Confusingly, Brian's foster father had a brother who had a son also named Mark. This person WAS Taggart. Brian was therefore a foster-cousin to Taggart. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.224.192.33 (talk) 12:26, 6 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Biological father was Peter McManus http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/scottishnews/3683873/Relatively-unusual-family-ties.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2003:46:1A08:52B9:CCDC:6EE:898C:828 (talk) 18:25, 7 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Thank you so much for this information (which I came here looking for.) It's hard to believe they weren't brothers, they looked so alike.

86.168.98.100 (talk) 16:55, 8 September 2017 (UTC)


 * They are NOT related. John2o2o2o (talk) 23:11, 3 March 2018 (UTC)


 * With the above details in consideration, what elements of the Independent obituary are accurate? With which of the two Mark McManuses mentioned above did Connolly apparently (per the Independent source) share a belief in a resemblance and likely shared father? Did the obituarist simply get the wrong end of some stick or other, or make a hash of things completely? At any rate, it seems that by Connolly's own account, he and (actor) Mark McManus had some kind of personal relationship, apparently based on this notion of a shared father- see https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sweet+star+follows+brother+Taggart+to+grave.-a061046202 A confusing situation... any clarification appreciated! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.144.76.135 (talk) 01:22, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Date of death
I don't have all these subscriptions given in the notes, but the one external link offered states he died on the 9th and so do: http://themusicsover.com/2010/02/09/brian-connolly-sweet/, http://www.last.fm/music/Brian+Connolly, http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1996.html, http://www.sweetlife.dk/870, http://www.discogs.com/artist/Brian+Connolly and others. It would be reasonable to ask for a quote stated in the referencence textfrom the source that most of us can't read. Hoverfish Talk 18:09, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

I will put the date back as per most sources. This is the edit diff that changed the date:. If IP 176.253.136.238 is still around and wants to put it back, please add the relevant quote in the reference from your stated source. Hoverfish Talk 19:16, 23 August 2013 (UTC)


 * The Independent says 10 February. But this book has 9 February as does this book. The thesweethub.com also has 9 February. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:45, 13 March 2021 (UTC)

The Sweet article
About 2/3 of the Sweet article needs to be removed. Wikipedia is a encyclopedia with summaries. This article appears to have everything that is known about them. They have a website where this information can be found, don't they? Or a fan with a fansite? This is too much information. Rissa, Guild of Copy Editors (talk) 05:37, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

Brian's birth name.
Brian's birth name was Connolly not McManus as the summary box of his life indicates. His foster family name was McManus and he used that until he learned of his true origins when a teenager. He reverted to the name Connolly in the late 1960s or 1970. He certainly was known as Connolly by 1971 when Funny Funny, the band's first RCA release, used that name on the B-side of the single as co-author of You're Not Wrong For Lovin' Me.202.56.179.17 (talk) 06:20, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Birthplace
Some sources claim he was born Govanhill, Glasgow, others suggest that he was born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, and others in Cathcart, also in Glasgow. Which one is correct? Zapho653 (talk) 15:07, 25 October 2023 (UTC)