The musicians’ journalist

Known to colleagues at The Australian and in the music world as Sheddy, Iain Shedden was a busy, talented, worldly and unassuming man who was in a class of his own as this newspaper’s music writer. The secrets to his success were his passion and his knowledge. As a rock ’n’ roll drummer — most notably, on and off, with The Saints — Sheddy had unequalled street cred with the musicians he interviewed and was able to pen articles about songwriting, playing, touring and recording with unrivalled perception. He knew all the jokes about drummers, but perhaps the one most apt to his life was the quip that drummers are people who hang around with musicians. From the biggest global recording stars to unknown emerging songwriters, a stream of artists opened up to this scribe who understood their craft and spoke their language. This newspaper, its readers and the music industry were the beneficiaries of this symbiotic relationship because it gave us gold dust of revelations and asides.

Raised at Wishaw, near Glasgow, Shedden supported Motherwell Football Club. He started in journalism in Britain and his playing took him to London and across Europe before he found his home in Australia. This year, at 60, he was performing, writing and sharing his critiques, views and humour as he worked what he said was the best job in the country. Shedden joined the paper in 1993 and was music writer for two decades. Of late he wrote movingly about Nick Cave’s battle with personal tragedy, and the passing of greats David Bowie and Dr G. Yunupingu.

Shedden had been battling illness but was taken unexpectedly from his wife, Christine, and children, Molly and Conor. We know readers, too, will miss the insight and rhythm of his words.