Classic rock band UFO suffered a loss as Paul Raymond passed away between legs of a tour earlier this month from a sudden heart attack on April 13th. The band has announced they will be rejoined by Nei; Carter on keyboards and guitar for the remainder of the “Last Orders” tour. Neil was previously in UFO between 1981 and 1983, having played on the albums The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent, Mechanix and Making Contact. Before he joined UFO, he was in Wild Horses, and he later continued his career with Gary Moore. The band released a statement you can read below.

In a statement released today (Tuesday, April 30), UFO said: “On April 13th 2019, the UFO family got the tragic news that our bandmate Paul Raymond had died of a heart attack. It had been just a week since we finished the first leg of our ‘Last Orders’ tour in the U.K. While mourning his loss, sadly we also had to face the reality of what to do with the band. We feel moving forward with the tour is the right thing to do. We all know this is what Paul would have wanted us to do. We are therefore very pleased to announce that our friend and former bandmate Neil Carter has agreed to join us again and take over the keyboards/guitar and vocals slot for the remainder of the tour. Neil was already part of the family between 1981 and 1983, playing on the albums ‘The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent’, ‘Mechanix’ and ‘Making Contact’. Before he joined UFO, he was in WILD HORSES, later he continued his career with Gary Moore. Together with Neil, we will bring our 2019 ‘Last Orders’ tour to a close. We want to make sure that all our amazing fans get a fantastic experience out of it one more time.”

The European leg of “Last Orders” kicks off on June 7 at Musik Zentrum in Hannover, Germany and includes shows in Sweden, Holland, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium.

UFO will launch the North American leg of “Last Orders” on October 9 at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California.