Pentangle Drummer Terry Cox Dies at Age 79

Terry Cox, the founding drummer of Pentangle, has died at the age of 89. The Sandy Brown Jazz website reported the date of death as March 19. Cox's passing was announced on Pentangle's official social media pages, with the band writing: "Terry Cox R.I.P. One of Pentangle's five points of light - a drummer of rare instinct and imagination. Alongside Danny Thompson, he formed a rhythm section that redefined the boundaries of folk, jazz, and beyond. Our love and condolences go out to his family, friends, and all who knew him."

Cox co-founded Pentangle in 1967 alongside Thompson, guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and vocalist Jacqui McShee. The band became one of the most distinctive ensembles in British music, operating less like a folk-rock band and more like a jazz rhythm section with two acoustic guitars, bass, and drums, and alongside Fairport Convention, helped revolutionize British folk music by bringing elements of jazz, rock, and psychedelia to the genre.

His death closes the last chapter on Pentangle's classic lineup. Bert Jansch died in 2011, followed by John Renbourn in 2015, and Danny Thompson on September 23, 2025, at the age of 86. Cox's passing leaves Jacqui McShee as the sole surviving member from the lineup that recorded the band's first six studio albums, from 1968 through to 1976's Solomon's Seal.

Away from Pentangle, Cox built a remarkable parallel career as a session drummer. He played on David Bowie's self-titled 1969 studio album, including on the breakthrough hit "Space Oddity," and contributed to multiple tracks on two of Elton John's early records: the 1970 debut Elton John and 1971's Madman Across the Water. His session credits stretched across an extraordinary range of artists, including Scott Walker, Long John Baldry, Charles Aznavour, Rick Springfield, Alexis Korner, Mike Batt, Rupert Hine, and the Bee Gees. In the early 1970s, Cox also formed a songwriting partnership with Lynsey de Paul and Lenny Zakatek of The Alan Parsons Project, which produced two singles released under the Zakatek banner.

Cox remained connected to Pentangle long after the classic lineup dissolved. When the band reunited in the 1980s, he featured prominently, playing early reunion shows in a wheelchair after breaking his leg in an accident, and appeared on two albums from that period: 1985's Open The Door and 1986's In The Round. He was also part of the celebrated lineup reunions in 2008 and 2011, returning to the stage alongside the bandmates he had played with since that founding year nearly six decades earlier.

No cause of death has been reported. With Cox gone, a rhythm section that quite literally redefined what folk music's backbeat could sound like exists now only on record.