Gerald "Gerry" Rafferty (16 April 1947 – 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer and songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line"
and, with the band Stealers Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle with You".
Rafferty was born into a working-class family in Paisley, Renfrewshire,
Scotland. His mother taught him both Irish and Scottish folk songs as a
boy; later, he was influenced by the music of The Beatles and Bob
Dylan. He joined the folk-pop band The Humblebums in 1969, but left in
1971 and recorded his first solo album
Can I Have My Money Back. Rafferty and Joe Egan formed the group
Stealers Wheel in 1972, producing several hits, most notably "Stuck in the Middle with You". In 1978, he recorded his second solo album,
City to City, which includes "Baker Street", his most popular song.