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Ed Gagliardi Musical artist

Edward John 'Ed' Gagliardi (February 13, 1952 – May 11, 2014) was an American bass guitarist who was the original bass player for the 1970s rock band Foreigner. He was a member of Foreigner from the beginning in 1976. Gagliardi, most notably, played a red Rickenbacker bass guitar, left-handed even though he was a naturally right-handed. It is widely known that he did so out of admiration, and devotion to Sir Paul McCartney (most often self-doctored from right handed basses, reengineered and played upside down, by Gagliardi himself). Gagliardi was on the albums Foreigner and Double Vision, and parted ways, due to creative differences, in 1979.In 1981, Ed formed the band Spys with former Foreigner keyboardist Al Greenwood, a band that set the tone for much of the 80's synth-rock bands, and received great acclaim within the musical community.In the early 2000s, Ed worked as a Service Department Writer at Rallye Lexus in Glen Cove, NY. Co-workers would tell customers, "Do you know who just wrote up your car? That's the original bass player from Foreigner!"Ed died of cancer on May 11, 2014, after battling cancer for eight years. Friends and family held a private ceremony.