Sonny Barger

The American biker, author and actor, who was born Ralph Hubert Barger, died surrounded by his loved ones ... The founding member of worldwide outlaw motorcycle ...

He was released in 1992 after serving three-and-a-half years of his sentence. He was paroled in 1977 after serving four-and-a-half years of his sentence. In the early 1980s, Barger was diagnosed with throat cancer after years of heavy smoking. Barger was convicted of conspiracy the following year and was sentenced to a four year prison term. A year later, however, he was sentenced to a prison term of ten years-to-life after he was convicted of possession of narcotics for sale and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. So, who exactly was Barger, what was the cause of his death, and what did he say in his farewell message?

For decades, he was the public face of a nationwide counterculture tribe of bearded, denim-clad road warriors memorialized in literature and film.

The first Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club had been founded in southern California in 1947, made up partly of disaffected ex-servicemen returning from the war; ...

In an announcement pre-written by the biker before his death, he spoke of his live 'filled with adventure' and paid tribute to the 'amazing club' that he ...

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply. By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply. By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice. His death was confirmed on his Facebook page, in an announcement pre-written by the biker before his passing where he spoke of his live “filled with adventure” and paid tribute to the “amazing club” that he founded.

Sonny Barger's cause of death: The founding member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club died on June 29, 2022. Read on for the details.

Sonny and Zorana appeared together in Dead in 5 Heartbeats. Sonny played a bar patron while Zorana portrayed a biker girl. Sonny was convicted on conspiracy-related charges in October 1988. Sonny had his fair share of legal troubles over the years, spending some time in prison. A famed biker, Sonny enthusiastically embraced life on the road. "And I've had the privilege to be part of an amazing club." He had an operation in 1982.

Sonny Barger, the notorious founding member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, author, ex-convict, occasional Sons of Anarchy actor and one of the bikers ...

Barger also took part in a number of documentaries about the bikers. Barger was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1983 and, in 2010, prostate cancer. Barger said in his book that he forced Richards, at gunpoint, to begin the concert. But also know that in the end, I was surrounded by what really matters: My wife, Zorana, as well as my loved ones. And I’ve had the privilege to be part of an amazing club. Although I’ve had a public persona for decades, i’ve mostly enjoyed special time with my club brothers, my family, and close friends.

The founder of the Hells Angels Sonny Barger has died at 83 after a battle with cancer, according to a social media statement and his former attorney.

In it, he shed light on the history and evolution of the Hells Angels and included stories about their run-ins with the law. Although I’ve had a public persona for decades, i’ve mostly enjoyed special time with my club brothers, my family, and close friends. “I’ve lived a long and good life filled with adventure.

Mr. Barger cultivated the motorcycle club's outlaw image and was a pivotal figure in its rise from obscurity into a countercultural phenomenon in the 1960s.

But the group’s rise came in spite of law enforcement’s efforts to tame it, with the authorities seeing it as a dangerous menace. In 2013, at 75, he described in a sworn deposition what he would do if he saw someone wearing an unofficial shirt bearing Hells Angels trademarks. Ralph Barger was born in Modesto, Calif., on Oct. 8, 1938. Soon after, he took over as the club’s national president when Otto Friedli, the founder of the original chapter, went to prison. Chased by the law for decades, he spent time in prison on drug charges but beat several other charges. He was 83.

Sonny Barger, the founder of Hells Angels, has died. The news broke on his own Facebook page Wednesday night, with a post that read, “If you are reading ...

Sonny was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1983 due to excessive smoking, forcing him to get his vocal cords removed. There were stories of racism within the Hells Angels over the year. Sonny moved the headquarters to Oakland. He got suspended from school multiple times for fighting, and ultimately dropped out in 10th grade. I’ve asked that this note be posted immediately after my passing." Hells Angels Founder Sonny Barger Dead at 83

Sonny Barger, a founder of the iconic motorcycle club Hells Angels, has passed away after being diagnosed with cancer. Barger's death was announced in a ...

The following year he was sentenced to ten years to life behind bars in 1973 after being convicted of possession of narcotics and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Facebook users have shared their condolences after news of Barger's passing was announced, with one writing: "The motorcycle world has lost a great man. "Although I’ve had a public persona for decades, I've mostly enjoyed special time with my club brothers, my family, and close friends.

Barger, who had been diagnosed with throat cancer and who had advocated against smoking, was surrounded by his wife Zorana Barger and other loved ones. Barger ...

Berger was diagnosed with throat cancer in the 1980s, which lead to the removal of his vocal cords. The Hells Angels eventually grew to 467 charters in 59 countries over five countries. Barger was born Ralph Hubert Barger in Modesto, California before his family moved to Oakland. He joined the U.S. Army when he was a teen and eventually joined a motorcycle club and adopted the name Hells Angels from a motorcycle club that had disbanded, according to Barger’s autobiography, The Mercury News reported.

Barger founded the Oakland chapter in 1957 and became the group's US president, bringing them to international notoriety.

Barger also appeared as an actor, including in the biker series Sons of Anarchy and film Angels from Hell. The latter depicted “a destructive ex-motorcycle gang leader [returning] home from Vietnam to resume his life. The next decade, Hells Angels evolved into a gang organization, spurring widespread condemnation. Over the following decades, the Hells Angels became known as a violent outlaw gang with outposts spanning the globe. In the 1950s, they came together to ride motorcycles and party. When Barger helmed the Hells Angels, he got into scrapes, took drugs, and raced his Harley-Davidson, Sweet Cocaine, along California’s expansive freeways. And I’ve had the privilege to be part of an amazing club.

Sonny Barger, founder of Hells Angels, has died at 83. The iconic outlaw biker had a brief batte with cancer, according to statement Thursday morning.

“I’ve lived a long and good life filled with adventure. Sonny Barger, founder of Hells Angels, has died at 83. Sonny Barger, leader of Hells Angels, dies at 83.

The motorcycle club leader died Wednesday at his California home, his former attorney said.

The Hells Angels was founded in 1948 in the San Bernardino area, the club’s website said, with more charters formed in the following decade. Mr. Barger was born in 1938, according to the Hells Angels website. “I’ve lived a long and good life filled with adventure.

LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) — Sonny Barger, the leather-clad figurehead of the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle club, has died. He was 83.

Thereafter, he breathed through a plastic valve in his neck, and covered the vent to speak. Of the Altamont killing, Barger argued that the Hells Angels acted in self-defense. He was sentenced to a six-year term at the Phoenix Federal Correctional Institution and was released in 1992. He was kicked out with an honorable discharge after the forgery was discovered. “We’re a little drop in the bucket. And I’ve had the privilege to be part of an amazing club.”

Sonny Barger was proud of the Hell Angels' history of violence, crime and intimidation.

He even took to calling himself part of a group of “card-carrying felons.” Much of that 99 per cent was genuinely fearful of the Angels with their menacing appearance, rumbling Harley Davidson motorcycles, violent no-limits lifestyle and black leather wardrobe adorned with the club’s sacred winged skull patch. In 2012 he had his prostate removed after another cancer diagnosis. Barger’s most recent battle with cancer was not his first. In 2000, Barger added best-selling author to his resume with the autobiography Hell’s Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. In 2010 he co-authored Let’s Ride, a best-selling guide to motorcycling ownership and safety, and went on to write several biker-related novels. Barger was the founder of the first chapter of the Hells Angels in Oakland, Calif., in 1957.

Ralph "Sonny" Barger, the Hells Angels motorcycle club leader who became the rough-hewn face of America's outlaw biker culture and the restlessness, ...

In 2010 Barger appeared on the television series "Sons of Anarchy" as a murderous biker known as Lenny the Pimp. "The way we were depicted, we were Vikings on acid, raping our way across sunny California on motorcycles forged in the furnaces of hell," he wrote in a 2001 autobiography. Barger was diagnosed with throat cancer at age 44 and smoked one last cigarette on the way to the operating room to have his vocal cords removed. "In any gathering of Hell's Angels ... there is no doubt who is running the show: Ralph 'Sonny' Barger, the Maximum Leader ... the coolest head in the lot, and a tough, quick-thinking dealer when any action starts," Thompson wrote. The Angels were brought in to keep spectators from climbing onstage and brawls frequently broke out. Barger emerged as their chief in part thanks to Hunter S. Thompson's 1966 book "Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs." He later sent a telegram to President Lyndon Johnson volunteering to take Angels to fight in Vietnam. Barger was born Oct. 8, 1938, in Modesto, California, and raised by his hard-drinking father and grandmother after his mother abandoned the family. The club would become a long-running target of law enforcement, which considered it a crime syndicate deeply involved in multi-million-dollar drug-dealing operations, gun running, witness intimidation and murder. Then he found kindred spirits under the Hells Angels umbrella. Much of that 99 percent was genuinely fearful of the Angels with their menacing appearance, rumbling Harley Davidson motorcycles, violent no-limits lifestyle and black leather wardrobe adorned with the club's sacred winged skull patch. Barger asked that the announcement be published, "immediately after my passing."