Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Robbie Bachman dead at 69

They say that death strikes in threes.

And that’s certainly the case in the music world, which in the span of just two days has lost guitar god Jeff Beck, Elvis’ daughter Lisa Marie Presley and now Robbie Bachman, drummer and co-founder of ’70s classic-rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

No cause of death was immediately given for Bachman, whose passing at 69 was announced by his brother and bandmate Randy Bachman.

“Another sad departure,” the BTO singer-guitarist, 79, tweeted on Thursday night. “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.”

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Robin “Robbie” Bachman began playing the drums as a child and, at 18, he was enlisted by his brother Randy to form the short-lived group Brave Belt, which also included another Bachman brother, Tim, on guitar and vocals as well as singer-bassist Fred Turner.

But the four of them went from country-rock to hard rock when they formed Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1973 and released  their self-titled debut. The band scored a string of ’70s hits including “Let It Ride,” “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” “Takin’ Care of Business,” “Hey You” and “Roll on Down the Highway” — all of which remain classic-rock radio staples.

Bachman continued to record with BTO — which was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2014 — until 1979’s “Rock n’ Roll Nights” and was semi-retired after the band’s last live shows in 2004. He is survived by his wife Chrissy.