John Lawton, who rose to fame in the mid-1970s as the singer for Uriah Heap has died. He was 74 years old. He was the frontman of the band from 1976 to 1979, appearing on three of the band’s studio albums: “Firefly” (1977), “Innocent Victim” (1977) and “Fallen Angel” (1978). He had rejoined the band for a tour of Europe in 2013 as a fill-in. News of Lawton’s passing was announced via the bands’ official social media accounts with the devastating news.
Sad news to report as Ken Hensley, who spent 50 years in Rock and Heavy Metal as keyboardist, guitarist, singer, and composer with bands like Uriah Heap has died. He was 75 years old. No cause of death was reported as yet. The news was shared on social media, by his brother Trevor in a Facebook post. In addition to being an integral part of Uriah Heap in the 1970s, he also worked with Blackfoot, W.A.S.P., and Cinderella, as well as a solo career. As a writer, he created classics as “Lady In Black”, “Easy Livin'”, “July Morning” and “Look At Yourself’ and wrote books about music and his career, including “My Book Of Answers”, which is due for release at the end of February 2021. Mick Box of Uriah Heap commented:
British Heavy Metal and Classic Rock heroes Uriah Heap will release a massive a “super deluxe” career-spanning box set – Fifty Years in Rock on October 30th via BMG. The collection was created with the full collaboration of Uriah Heep themselves and curated by founding members Mick Box, Ken Hensley, Paul Newton, and Lee Kerslake, who passed away last week. RIP. Watch Uriah Heep – 50 Years In Rock! – official unboxing Video here and pre-order at the link below:
Legendary Heavy Metal drummer Lee Kerslake, best known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne and Uriah Heap, has died. He was just 73 years old. In a post to social media Uriah Heap bassist and Lee’s friend, Ken Hensley commented: “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that I share with you that Lee Kerslake, my friend of 55 years and the best drummer I ever played with, lost his battle with cancer at 03:30 this morning,”. “He died peacefully, praise The Lord, but he will be terribly missed.”