Wells Kelly

American drummer, born April 7, 1949, died October 28, 1984 in London, England, UK.

Wells Kelly was a versatile musician known for his roles as a drummer, keyboard player, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the band Orleans but had a rich musical history before that. Starting with bands like Thunderfrog and King Harvest, Wells eventually joined Boffalongo before forming Orleans with John Hall in 1971. The band later added Larry and Lance Hoppen to become a quartet. Wells left Orleans in 1980 and joined Steve Forbert's touring band "The Flying Squirrels" in the early '80s (he can be heard on CD3 of "Steve Forbert's demos compilation "Down In Flames" & on his King Biscuit live CD). Wells then left to be part of the Meat Loaf touring band (the "Neverland Express") in the spring of 1983. Moving from Woodstock, NY to New York City in 1984 for more session work opportunities, Wells worked on Meatloaf's "Bad Attitude" LP in London before his untimely death in October 1984 (while on tour in England with Meat Loaf) at the age of 34.