Bachman-Turner Overdrive Drummer Robbie Bachman Dead at 69: 'We Rocked the World Together'

Fin Costello/Redferns Robbie Bachman

Robbie Bachman, drummer for Bachman–Turner Overdrive, has died at the age of 69.

Robbie's brother and the band's lead vocalist and guitarist Randy Bachman shared the news on Twitter Friday morning.

"Another sad departure," Randy wrote. "The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad & brother Gary on the other side. Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock 'n' roll machine and we rocked the world together. #RIP #littlebrother #family"

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Robbie (full name Robin) was born in Winnipeg, Canada and eventually joined the band Brave Belt, which his brother founded alongside Chad Allan. The trio released two albums under that name in 1971 and 1972, before opting for the name Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1973 when Allan departed.

With founding members in the two Bachman brothers and bassist Fred Turner, as well as original guitarist Tim Bachman also in the original lineup, the Canadians went on to see some success with their 1973 self-titled debut. Their eventual breakthrough came with Bachman–Turner Overdrive II later in the year, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart with help from two top 40 singles in "Takin' Care of Business" and "Let It Ride."

Their following record, Not Fragile, ended up being more successful and marked their only LP to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It included track "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974.

The band continued to release albums through the '70s, with the last LP featuring both Robbie and Randy having been 1977's Freeways, and the band's final album of original material arriving in 1984. In 2014, BTO were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Armando Gallo/Getty Images Bachman–Turner Overdrive in 1976

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In a Toronto Star interview amid their 2014 induction, Bachman reflected on the band's time in the spotlight — specifically speaking about the time they saw Elvis Presley perform in Las Vegas in 1975, when they presented him with a silver medallion reading the words "Takin' Care of Business."

"It's weird to have Elvis know your name," he said. "Basically, we talked to him about karate, firearms and cars."

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As for the band's success, he attributed that to the fun nature of their material. "We didn't tell anybody they were wrong or anything was bad or don't do this. It was basically, have a good time, fun music," he said. "Just coming out of the '70s with the Vietnam War and all the political things going on — in Canada with Trudeau, and Richard Nixon and stuff like that — we just basically had enough of that stuff."