Mr Reggie Verghese, the lead guitarist for the country’s biggest pop group of the 1960s, The Quests, died of heart failure this afternoon (June 17).
Mr Verghese, who would have been 68 in August, was warded at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital at the time of his death.
Mr Vernon Cornelius, who sang with The Quests from 1966 to 1968, said Mr Verghese had been in hospital for the last few days. “He’d been unwell for years with a string of ailments,” he added.
Mr Verghese joined The Quests after their original guitarist Raymond Leong left to pursue his studies in 1964. Within months, the band would have a No 1 hit, Shanty, and Mr Verghese’s guitar-playing on that song would be the talk of the town.
It was his prowess on the guitar, whether on instrumental songs such as Tea Break or Champagne (which he wrote); or on vocal tracks such as Rollercoaster Man and Don’t Play That Song For Me, that helped cement The Quests as the country’s top band.
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