Brian James, the founding guitarist of trailblazing British punks the Damned, has died age 70. A statement posted to his official Facebook page called him “one of the true pioneers of music”. No cause of death was shared.

His Damned bandmate Captain Sensible, AKA Raymond Burns, shared a tribute on X: “We’re shocked to hear that creator of the Damned, our great chum Brian James, has sadly gone. A lovely bloke that I feel so lucky to have met all those years ago and for some reason chose me to help in his quest for the music revolution that became known as punk.”

James wrote the first British punk single, New Rose – released five weeks before the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK – and was the lead songwriter on the band’s debut album, Damned Damned Damned, which was released in February 1977.

That November, James left the group after the release of their second album, the poorly received Music for Pleasure, and pursued several solo groups, including the Lords of the New Church, who released three albums in the 1980s.

James was born Brian Robertson in Hammersmith, London, in February 1955. After playing in the proto-punk band London SS alongside future Clash member Mick Jones, he formed the Damned with singer Dave Vanian, bassist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies in 1976.

Captain Sensible expanded on his post on Facebook, recalling that when James was recruiting bandmates, he instituted short hair as a rule – “a radical departure from the mid-70s hippy look” – and had such a “blistering technique” on guitar that he persuaded Sensible to switch to bass.

“The next couple of years were a pretty wild ride but Brian’s vision of a music revolution had been absolutely spot on … and boy do I feel lucky that he chose me cos I had no plan B if the music game failed.”

They played their first gig in July 1976, as support to the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club in London. The Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren kicked them off a subsequent support tour.

After departing the group, James collaborated with Iggy Pop as a member of his touring band. Stewart Copeland of the Police performed on his first two solo singles, Ain’t That a Shame from 1979, and Why? Why? Why? from 1982.

In 2000, James joined forces with Copeland, Wayne Kramer of MC5, Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses and Clem Burke of Blondie as the Racketeers for the album Mad for the Racket.

In 2013, he re-recorded his Damned material for a solo album, Damned If I Do, and toured the record with Rat Scabies (AKA Christopher Millar). In 1988 and 2022, the original members of the Damned reunited for a UK tour.

James is survived by his wife, Minna, and son Charlie.