The guitar line that helped push "Keep On Dancing" into the UK Top 10 in 1971 belonged to a young Glasgow-born guitarist named Neil Henderson. Henderson, who went on to spend much of the 1970s as a guitarist and songwriter for the Scottish pop group Middle of the Road, died in September 2026 at the age of 73.

The Bay City Rollers had formed in Edinburgh in 1967, growing out of an earlier group started by brothers Alan and Derek Longmuir. Henderson joined the lineup in 1970, three years into the band's existence and several years before the arrival of the Faulkner-Wood-McKeown lineup that would carry the group to international fame. His guitar work appeared on "Keep On Dancing," the single that gave the Rollers their first UK Top 10 placing when it reached number nine on the charts in 1971, Guitar Player reported.

He left the band the following year after disagreements over its musical direction, stepping away before the classic lineup and its run of hits such as "Bye Bye Baby" and "Shang-a-Lang" made the Rollers a household name. Stuart Wood, who later played guitar in that lineup, called Henderson "one of the original Bay City Rollers" in a tribute after his death, adding, "Though I never met him personally Alan spoke very highly of him. Sincere condolences to all his family and friends."

Henderson resurfaced within a few years as guitarist for Middle of the Road, the Scottish group already known across Europe for its 1971 chart topper "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep." The band's hits had already made it a major chart success across the continent, and Henderson became more than a hired hand within it. Beyond his guitar playing, he was credited as a songwriter on singles including "Rockin' Soul" and "Everybody Loves a Winner," Ultimate Classic Rock reported.

Little was publicly recorded about Henderson's life once his run with Middle of the Road wound down, a quiet stretch that outlets marking his death described as typical of a musician who shaped hit records without ever becoming a household name himself.

Middle of the Road announced Henderson's death in a statement, writing, "We are sorry to have to announce the death of Neil Henderson, our original lead guitarist, songwriter and friend." He was survived by his two daughters, Heather and Shona.

Henderson's guitar helped launch two of Scotland's most successful pop exports of the 1970s, even though he had already moved on from each by the time it reached its widest fame. What endures is the recorded work: his playing on "Keep On Dancing," and his songwriting credits on "Rockin' Soul" and "Everybody Loves a Winner" for Middle of the Road.