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Rick Buckler, who played drums in UK new wave outfit and mod revivalists The Jam<\/a>, has died. Buckler\u2019s bandmates\u2014singer and guitarist Paul Weller<\/a>, and bassist Bruce Foxton\u2014confirmed the news in a message<\/a> posted across Weller\u2019s social media accounts. While an exact cause of death has not been revealed, a statement from Buckler\u2019s family to the BBC<\/em><\/a> describes him as having \u201cpassed away peacefully on Monday evening [February 18] in Woking after a short illness with family by his side.\u201d He was 69.<\/p>\n Born in the town of Woking in the county of Surrey, England, Buckler attended Sheerwater Secondary School, where he met Weller and Foxton. Together, they formed the Jam in the early 1970s, playing covers of Chuck Berry and Little Richard songs at neighborhood pub Michael\u2019s. Originally, Weller played bass and Steve Brookes was the band\u2019s primary guitarist, but when Brookes left the band, Weller switched to guitar and Foxton took over bass duties, solidifying what would be the Jam\u2019s permanent lineup.<\/p>\n The Jam released their debut single, \u201cIn The City,\u201d via Polydor in April 1977, followed shortly thereafter by their first album<\/a> of the same name. Influenced by \u201950s and \u201960s rock\u2019n\u2019roll acts like The Who and Larry Williams, Weller, Foxton, and Buckler were largely responsible for ushering in the UK\u2019s mod revival<\/a>. The trio would go on to release five additional studio albums: This Is the Modern World<\/em> (1977), All Mod Cons<\/em> (1978), Setting Sons<\/em> (1979), Sound Affects<\/em> (1980), and The Gift<\/em> (1982).<\/p>\n A few months after the release of The Gift<\/em>\u2014which went to No. 1 on the UK albums chart\u2014Weller unilaterally decided to disband the Jam without consulting either of his bandmates. \u201cIt was like we were going to be driving over a cliff at the end of the year, and you keep thinking \u2018Well, maybe he’ll change his mind,\u2019\u201d Buckler told the Woking News and Mail<\/em><\/a> in 2012. He and Weller rarely spoke again for the remainder of his life.<\/p>\n Buckler formed several new bands throughout the 1980s\u2014among them Time UK and, with Foxton, the short-lived group Sharp\u2014before stepping away from the spotlight to run a production studio in Islington, where he worked on records by the Highliners and the Family Cat. He returned in performing in 2005 as part of a Jam tribute act called the Gift. Foxton joined the group in 2007, and they\u2019ve since toured consistently as From the Jam.<\/p>\n In the span of five years, the Jam landed 18 consecutive singles in the UK Top 40, four of which became number-one hits in the country: \u201cGoing Underground,\u201d \u201cStart!\u201d, \u201cTown Called Malice,\u201d and \u201cBeat Surrender.\u201d Designating himself as their de facto chronicler, Buckler published several books about his time in the band, including the autobiography That’s Entertainment: My Life in the Jam<\/em> in 2015. \u201cI\u2019m thinking back to us all rehearsing in my bedroom in Stanley Road, Woking,\u201d Wells wrote. \u201cWe went far beyond our dreams and what we made stands the test of time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n