Dave Davies (born February 3, 1947) was a singer and guitarist with the British rock band The Kinks, which he founded with Pete Quaife in 1963. His brother Ray, who became the best-known member of the band, joined soon after. The group has been all but disbanded since the early 1990s, but Davies continued to have a steady musical career as a performer and songwriter until a 2004 stroke sidelined him.
Although never attaining the fame and reputation of his older brother, who wrote and sang lead on most of the Kinks' songs, Dave Davies wrote some hits himself (notably "Death of a Clown" and "Living on a Thin Line"), and his vocals were a vital part of the Kinks' sound. But his rock legacy was cemented in 1964, when he created the buzzing, slam-dunk power chords for his brother's "You Really Got Me". Davies has given various accounts of how he got that sound, including one tale in which he said he slashed the speaker cones on his eight-watt Elpico amplifier with a razor blade to achieve the distorted sound which he sought for his guitar; at other times, he said he used knitting needles.
Davies published an autobiography, entitled Kink, in 1996, in which he discussed his bisexuality at length, including a sexual relationship with Long John Baldry. He also wrote of the tense professional relationship with his brother that at times dominated the Kinks' thirty year career.
On June 30, 2004, Davies suffered a stroke in an elevator at the London offices of the BBC, where he had been promoting his latest album, Bug. He was released from the hospital on August 27.
As of 2006, Davies has somewhat recovered. He can walk and talk and play guitar but has a hard time singing and playing at the same time, and has not been able to go on tour.
The Kinks were inducted into the British Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in November 2005. The four original members were there to receive the award.
