Andy Gill Wife: Who Was He Married To? (2026)

Andy Gill, the guitarist and co-founder of Gang of Four, was married to journalist and author Catherine Mayer from 1999 until his death in February 2020. Mayer is the former Europe editor of TIME magazine and co-founder of the Women's Equality Party.

Who Is Catherine Mayer?

Catherine Mayer is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist. She served as the Europe editor of TIME magazine and co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015 alongside Sandi Toksvig, later co-founding the Primadonna Festival in 2019. Her books include Amortality (2011), the Sunday Times top-ten bestseller Charles: The Heart of a King (2015), Attack of the 50ft Women (2017), and the grief memoir Good Grief (2020), written about losing Gill. She now runs the music estate of her late husband and executive-produced his posthumous double album The Problem of Leisure. In 2020 she was named in GQ Magazine's "50 Most Influential People in Britain," and her later books include the feminist retelling of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine, the novel Time/Life.

Marriage Timeline

Mayer married Andy Gill in 1999. They were together for just over two decades until Gill's sudden death in February 2020 at the age of 64, after being admitted to intensive care in a London hospital that January. Mayer later wrote that it was suspected he may have died of coronavirus following the band's tour of China in late 2019. She chronicled their life together and her bereavement in Good Grief: Embracing Life at a Time of Death (2020).

Children

No children from the marriage have been publicly documented.

Career Highlights

Andy Gill co-founded the Leeds post-punk band Gang of Four in 1976, and his jagged, funk-inflected guitar style on albums Entertainment! (1979) and Solid Gold (1981) influenced generations of bands from Rage Against the Machine to Franz Ferdinand. Beyond performing, he became a sought-after producer, working with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Jesus Lizard, the Stranglers, and many others. He remained Gang of Four's driving force through multiple lineups until his death. At the time of his passing he had been working on the double album The Problem of Leisure, completed and executive-produced by Mayer.

FAQ

Who was Andy Gill's wife?

Catherine Mayer, the journalist and author. They were married from 1999 until his death in February 2020.

How did Andy Gill die?

He died in February 2020 at age 64 after being admitted to intensive care in London; his widow later raised the possibility of an early coronavirus infection.

Did Andy Gill have children?

No children from his marriage to Catherine Mayer have been publicly documented.

What was Andy Gill's role in Gang of Four?

He was the band's co-founder, guitarist, and driving creative force from its formation in Leeds in 1976 until his death in 2020.

What book did Catherine Mayer write about Andy Gill?

Good Grief: Embracing Life at a Time of Death (2020), co-written in conversation with her mother's own bereavement.