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Karl Wallinger, songwriter and frontman of World Party, dies at 66

Welsh-born musician and composer also played with the Waterboys and worked on Sinéad O’Connor’s debut album

A gifted songwriter, he penned songs such as World Party’s Ship of Fools, Put the Message in the Box, Is it Like Today? In 1983, Wallinger joined the Waterboys and played on their first three albums as a multi-instrumentalist, including on the folk-rock band’s biggest hit, The Whole of the Moon. The Waterboys lead singer, Mike Scott, paid tribute to Wallinger on Monday in a social media post on X, calling him “one of the finest musicians I’ve ever known”.

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