Sonny Barger, the founder of the infamous motorcycle group Hells Angels, died in his home in Livermore, California, at age 83, from an ongoing battle with cancer.
In a Facebook post, he said, “[i]f you are reading this message, you’ll know that I’m gone. I’ve asked that this note be posted immediately after my passing.” Fritz Clapp, Mr. Barger’s former lawyer, has confirmed his passing and said the cause was liver cancer.
Mr. Barger, as well as the Hells Angels, constantly get confronted by the law. At one point, he referred to himself as being with a group of “card-carrying felons.”
Mr. Barger also confessed that he was addicted to cocaine from the 1960s to the 1970s. Because of his cocaine addiction, he endorsed his habit of selling heroin. He served eight years in prison for various drug and firearms charges.
In 1979, Mr. Barger and other Hells Angels leaders we accused of selling methamphetamine outside of Oklahoma.
In 1988, he served five years in federal prison because he and other Hells Angels killed members of a motorcycle club in Kentucky, then burned the place down.
The government also has non-stop investigated the Hells Angels. In 2013, the government convicted 16 Hells Angels members after discovering a plan that included arson, money laundering, and drug distribution.
In the 1969 Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, the Rolling Stones hired the Hells Angels to provide security and fight off fans trying to run on stage. At that concert, gun welding 18-year-old Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by Alan Passaro.
Alan Passaro commanded the crowd to stop swarming towards the stage. But the fans did not listen. At one point, Meredith Hunter shot a single shot in the air, hitting a Hells Angels member. Other members responded quickly, beating up Hunter. Alan Passaro came and stabbed Hunter to death but was free from criminal charges after claiming that it was self-defense.
For many years, Mr. Barger worked as a technical consultant for many movies, even appearing in some. Some of the movies he was in include “Hells Angels on Wheels,” a film from 1967.
Mr. Barger joined his first Motorcycle club, the Oakland Panthers, in 1956. But after a year in the Oakland Panthers, he quit and made his biking group called the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, based in Oakland.
“I needed a close-knit club of men who could jump on their bikes, ride cross-country if they wanted to, and not abide by rules or clocks,” Mr. Barger said.
Over the next few decades, he expanded his club with thousands of members in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and many other places. Even with some legal confrontation, his biking group became very successful.
However, in 1982, he was diagnosed with throat cancer after continuously smoking three packs of Camels, the American cigarette brand, every day for 30 years. Mr. Barger had to have his vocal cords removed. He had to learn to speak via a surgically made hole in his throat.
In 1998, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he ran a motorcycle repair shop, passing on all his duties as a Hells Angel. However, he remained a rank-and-file member. He continued to lift weights and do yoga, just like how he did in jail.
Before he died, he made a significant impression on many motorcyclists and inspired some. Many people are devastated by the loss of Sonny Barger. But the spirit of Ralph Hubert “Sonny” Barger, Jr. will forever be in many Hells Angels and motorcyclist’s hearts.
In a Facebook post, he said, “[i]f you are reading this message, you’ll know that I’m gone. I’ve asked that this note be posted immediately after my passing.” Fritz Clapp, Mr. Barger’s former lawyer, has confirmed his passing and said the cause was liver cancer.
Mr. Barger, as well as the Hells Angels, constantly get confronted by the law. At one point, he referred to himself as being with a group of “card-carrying felons.”
Mr. Barger also confessed that he was addicted to cocaine from the 1960s to the 1970s. Because of his cocaine addiction, he endorsed his habit of selling heroin. He served eight years in prison for various drug and firearms charges.
In 1979, Mr. Barger and other Hells Angels leaders we accused of selling methamphetamine outside of Oklahoma.
In 1988, he served five years in federal prison because he and other Hells Angels killed members of a motorcycle club in Kentucky, then burned the place down.
The government also has non-stop investigated the Hells Angels. In 2013, the government convicted 16 Hells Angels members after discovering a plan that included arson, money laundering, and drug distribution.
In the 1969 Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, the Rolling Stones hired the Hells Angels to provide security and fight off fans trying to run on stage. At that concert, gun welding 18-year-old Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by Alan Passaro.
Alan Passaro commanded the crowd to stop swarming towards the stage. But the fans did not listen. At one point, Meredith Hunter shot a single shot in the air, hitting a Hells Angels member. Other members responded quickly, beating up Hunter. Alan Passaro came and stabbed Hunter to death but was free from criminal charges after claiming that it was self-defense.
For many years, Mr. Barger worked as a technical consultant for many movies, even appearing in some. Some of the movies he was in include “Hells Angels on Wheels,” a film from 1967.
Mr. Barger joined his first Motorcycle club, the Oakland Panthers, in 1956. But after a year in the Oakland Panthers, he quit and made his biking group called the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, based in Oakland.
“I needed a close-knit club of men who could jump on their bikes, ride cross-country if they wanted to, and not abide by rules or clocks,” Mr. Barger said.
Over the next few decades, he expanded his club with thousands of members in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and many other places. Even with some legal confrontation, his biking group became very successful.
However, in 1982, he was diagnosed with throat cancer after continuously smoking three packs of Camels, the American cigarette brand, every day for 30 years. Mr. Barger had to have his vocal cords removed. He had to learn to speak via a surgically made hole in his throat.
In 1998, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he ran a motorcycle repair shop, passing on all his duties as a Hells Angel. However, he remained a rank-and-file member. He continued to lift weights and do yoga, just like how he did in jail.
Before he died, he made a significant impression on many motorcyclists and inspired some. Many people are devastated by the loss of Sonny Barger. But the spirit of Ralph Hubert “Sonny” Barger, Jr. will forever be in many Hells Angels and motorcyclist’s hearts.
