Scottish musician Doogie Paul of James Yorkston and the Athletes dies

HUNDREDS of tributes have been paid to a talented Scots musician who has passed away following a brave battle with cancer.

• Doogie Paul played double bass with James Yorkston and the Athletes

• The award-winning folk musician had been fighting cancer for two years

Doogie Paul – who played double bass with award-winning folk outfit James Yorkston and the Athletes – died at an Edinburgh hospice following a relapse to his condition.

Mr Paul, from Glasgow, had fought the disease for the past two years and had been responding well to treatment before his health quickly deteriorated last week.

Friends and fans of the band are organising gatherings in Edinburgh and London to celebrate the musician’s life, with any financial proceeds going to the Marie Curie Cancer care charity.

Singer songwriter, and close pal, James Yorkston said: “A sad weekend. My good friend Doogie Paul died of cancer early on Saturday morning. Doogie had played double bass with me since 2001 and we’d toured all over together, playing hundreds of shows and recording five albums and numerous other things.

“He’d been first diagnosed a couple of years ago, but had appeared to have responded well to the treatment, to such an extent that he was well enough to play the Moving Up Country 10th Anniversary shows earlier this year.

“However, he relapsed at some point and this was discovered just a few weeks ago. He went downhill very quickly towards the end of last week.

“I won’t pretend he was perfect, as no-one is, but he was a real individual, taking his own path and I’ll miss him a great, great deal.”

And fellow band member Reuben Taylor said: “I can’t believe he has gone. I saw him quite a bit in the last couple of months while the cancer came back and he was always talking about what treatment came next, what his options were and how he was going to beat it.

“He was always so positive.

“I knew Doogie for longer than I care to remember, and I will remember him as a great musician.

“I don’t know if I will ever have another friend who cared so much about his friends. I miss him a lot.”

Doogie was a regular member of James Yorkston and the Athletes and performed for the last time in public when the band played a 10th anniversary show of their debut album Moving Up Country at The Caves in Edinburgh in May.

Hundreds of the band’s fans have also left poignant messages on a tribute Facebook page over the weekend.

Doogie, who turned 40 last month, had been bravely battling the disease for some time, but failed to tell any of his friends and family how bad things had become.

He was admitted to a Marie Curie hospice last week to undergo a blood transfusion, and was discharged on Sunday..

However, the bass player was made to re-enter the Edinburgh hospice after his health dramatically deteriorated in the last couple of days.

Doogie Paul passed peacefully on Saturday morning, and will be laid to rest at Mortonhall crematorium in Edinburgh next Tuesday.

He is survived by his mother Anne, father Douglas and brothers Iain and Alan.