Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger dead at 83
- Members of the notorious biker gang have long been a fearsome symbol of the outlaw lifestyle
- Sonny Barger, who spent more than 10 years in jail, was the group’s public face for decades
Sonny Barger, a founding member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club who spent decades as the public face of the notorious biker gang, has died at the age of 83, according to his Facebook page.
With their leather vests and the roar of their engines as they cruised in packs on the open road, for many years the Hells Angels were a symbol – a frightening one for some Americans – of counterculture living.
Barger founded the now-international motorcycle club’s original group, based out of Oakland, California in 1957.
As sanctioned offshoots of the club were established around the United States, and controversies around the group’s activities compounded, Barger acted as a de facto spokesperson, defending their outlaw lifestyle.
Barger was present at a notorious 1969 Rolling Stones concert in California, for which the Hells Angels had been hired as security, using their bikes as a makeshift barrier in front of the stage.
The unruly gathering at the Altamont Speedway is remembered for the death of Meredith Hunter, who was beaten and stabbed to death by members of the Hells Angels, after he brandished a handgun near the stage.