'Stuck in the Middle with You' Singer Joe Egan Dead at 77, Known for Work With Stealers Wheel

Joe Egan, the Scottish singer-songwriter who co-founded Stealers Wheel with Gerry Rafferty and co-wrote and sang on the song "Stuck in the Middle With You," has died. Egan passed away on Saturday, July 6 at the age of 77, according to a statement shared to the late Rafferty's official Facebook page. A cause of death was not disclosed.

"Very sad news that the other half of Stealers Wheel, Joe Egan, passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon with his nearest and dearest around him," the July 7 statement read. "I will always remember him as a sweet and gentle soul. May he rest in peace."

Born on October 18, 1946, Egan and Rafferty met as teenagers at St. Mirin's Academy in their hometown of Paisley, Scotland, per Deadline . After performing in various bands and releasing his 1971 solo debut, Can I Have My Money Back? , Egan and Rafferty formed Stealers Wheel in 1972. By the time the band released their self-titled debut album that same year, Rafferty had already left, though he was inspired to return by the success of "Stuck In the Middle With You," per Loudwire .

The pair co-wrote and both sang lead parts on the single, which made it to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, also soared to the Top 10 in the UK, eventually sold more than 2 million copies, and helped push the group's A&M Records debut album to No. 50 on the Billboard 200. In addition to being used in a grisly scene in in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 film Reservoir Dogs , the song also appeared in films and series like The Guilt Trip , ER , Gilmore Girls , That 70's Show , Malcolm in the Middle , Raising Hope , Cold Case , Top Gear , and The Simpsons .

Following their debut album, the group released two more albums - 1973's Ferguslie Park and 1975's Right or Wrong -with the follow-up single "Everything Will Turn Out Fine" hitting the Billboard Top 50 and "Star" making the Top 30 and later being featured in an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel . Stealers Wheel split in 1975, briefly reuniting in 2008 without Egan or Rafferty, who died of liver failure at the age of 63 in 2011. Egan went on to release two solo albums, Out of Nowhere in 1979 and Map in 1981, before leaving the music industry in the '90s. He told the Paisley Daily Express following Rafferty's passing that they kept in touch over the years, sharing, "we lived in each other's pockets for so long and, latterly, would speak regularly on the phone."