Sonny Barger, founder of Hells Angels, dies of cancer at 83

Sonny Barger, 83, founder of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, died on Thursday (30) in the United States after a battle with cancer. The death was confirmed on a Facebook page with a farewell message left written by the motorcyclist.

“If you’re reading this message, you’ll know I’m gone. I asked that this note be posted immediately after my death. I’ve lived a long and good life full of adventure. And I’ve had the privilege of being part of an amazing club.” said the biker.

Barger said that, despite being a public figure for decades, he mainly enjoyed special moments with the club’s brothers, family and close friends. He said he died peacefully after a brief battle with cancer. In the early 1980s, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, which required the removal of his vocal cords.

“But also know that in the end, I was surrounded by what really matters: my wife, Zorana, as well as my loved ones,” Barger said. He ended the text by leaving a message for followers and bikers: “Keep your head up, stay loyal, stay free and always cherish honor.”

Barger co-founded the club’s Oakland branch in April 1957, nine years after the formation of the first branch in Fontana, California, according to The News York Times. Soon after, he took over as the club’s national president when Otto Friedli, the original founder, went to prison.

The biker and other Hells Angels leaders have always said that the club’s reputation as a seedy crime syndicate was undeserved and that it should not be held accountable for the actions of individual members. But the group’s rise came despite police efforts to tame it, with authorities seeing it as a dangerous threat.

With the pop culture imprint of the Hells Angels team, Barger has made occasional appearances in film and television, including a cameo as himself in Jack Nicholson’s 1967 film Hells Angels on Wheels. In 2010, he appeared in the FX drama “Sons of Anarchy”.