Brian Connolly, lead vocalist of ‘The Sweet’ 1945-1997

Brian Connolly was the main lead singer for The Sweet from the start of the band in it’s beginnings in 1967 under another name. He was the lead in hits like ‘Blockbuster’, ‘Lost Angels’, ‘Sweet F. A.’, ‘Fox on the Run’ and ‘Ballroom Blitz’. Another hit,  ‘Love is Like Oxygen’ will always be an immortal rock ballad.

Fortunate in having his Sun conjunct his Ascendant, he epitomized a ‘radiant’ personality, having a strong influence on other, more that he may have ever realized. Connolly was also a great communicator, seen in his Sun / Mercury conjunction, but also not a great listener. In the Sun / Jupiter conjunction, he showed his enthusiasm, optimism and never-ending zest to be recognized. His Sun formed a trine to health, pointing to seemingly ever present issues related to health. Brian used his unique talents in this lifetime well. People were attracted to his unusual sense of individuality. Brian also had his Sun in a square to Mars. He certainly loved to take risks and sometime had difficulty discerning the difference between assertion and aggression. He did find being in a band like Sweet and being a lead vocal a healthy outlet for his enthusiasm and energy.

Those who have the Moon conjunct Neptune find they are usually soft, imaginative and sensitive people who feel overwhelmed at times by their feelings and need to shut yourself off from the world at some point. Brian lived in a fantasy world of being a rock star and idol and had often had difficulty coping with reality. With this aspect, Brian may have developed an unrealistic picture of his mother, and as a result had difficulty letting go either because he felt so at-one with her, or because he felt so disillusioned sometimes. I mention this because of the lyrics in ‘Cockroach’

‘Your mocking laugh at my inhibitions; you made a fuss, broke my oedipus on my mother’s side’. The Oedipus complex is a concept within psychoanalytic theory referring to a stage of psychosexual development where a child of either gender regards the parent of the same gender as an adversary, and competitor, for the exclusive love of the parent of the opposite gender.

Brian attempted to develop his artistic, spiritual and creative nature but unfortunately lacked the will to avoid drugs, negative people and/or alcohol. His Moon also formed a trine to Hygiea, showing their was a concern for his long-term personal security thru his health, but was not able to stop the drinking which eventually brought him down.

After a seemingly endless number of heart attacks, Connolly succumbed in a local London hospital on the early morning of February 10, 1997. Many who knew him say that he must have suffered the most number of heart attacks by anyone alive, until his demise that early morning. His poison was excessive drinking. In his natal, we can see that problem by looking at the Jupiter / Neptune conjunction at 6-8 Libra to the Ascendant. This would give give credence to the likelihood of ‘excessive (Jupiter) drinking (Neptune)’ in his ‘here and now’.

The fact that Neptune was in the 12^th (only by a degree plus) would suggest that his Neptune would, without a great deal of control, be ‘addictive’. By it’s conjunction to Jupiter and the Ascendant, it reveals the ties to the first house. The first deals with ‘personal issues, his personality and being headstrong’. Neptune in the natal was also trine to Hygiea, forming a bond between drinking and his health and wellbeing.

At the time of his death (which I am estimating thru the aspects here), the T Sun, at 21 Aquarius, was activating all his Neptune aspect in the natal, thru its sesqui-square (135 degree angle) to it. In other words, the aspect was accenting all the positive and negative-ness of N Neptune. Sort of, an, ‘I told you so’ by God / Universal Mind to Brian and his body. Also, the Sun’s sesqui-square to Jupiter, inferred ‘bodily overload’ for him now. The Sun’s quincunx (150 degree angle) to Saturn, implied more limitations on an already weakened Connolly. With the T Sun’s sesqui-square to the Ascendant also, where the 'here and now' in life's matter will be more 'agitated', I believe this may have been the ‘last straw’ for Brian’s weakened condition.

The transiting Saturn, in all it’s karmic glory, is forming an opposition to Brian’s cluster, the Mercury-Sun-Jupiter-Neptune-Moon connection. Like an electrical wire, all of these would feel Saturn’s restrictive, lack-of-control energy, coupled with the already debilitating aspects. It is clear to me, why Brian was having heart (Sun) trouble!

Notice Mars at 5 Libra. It is forming a conjunction to the Neptune / Jupiter pair, and others too. This Mars is packing a whollop now. It is carrying extra planetary energy from it’s trine with Jupiter (excess) and Uranus (unique) in its airy trine from Aquarius (with accentuates ‘freedom’). Mars / Jupiter may be providing the ‘freedom’ to release Brian soul from it’s badly damaged earthly container and ‘set him free to go home’. Combined with Saturn from the ‘other side’, it was nature’s version of a ‘combination’ in boxing.

Mars with Neptune is astrologically described as ‘physically weakened and/or spiritually strengthened’. Hopefully, Brian was both as he departed this lifetime. God Speed Brian!