Denny Laine (1944-2023), one of the founding members and former frontman of The Moody Blues, has died at the age of 79. His wife Elizabeth Hines confirmed this, as the British BBC reports. He lost a long battle against lung disease.
The British musician and singer was born in October 1944 and grew up in the city of Birmingham. In the 1960s he was one of the founders of the rock band The Moody Blues, which released the single “Go Now!” celebrated its first major successes.
However, Laine soon left the band. Between 1971 and 1981 he was part of Wings, the group led by Paul McCartney (81) and his wife Linda McCartney (1941-1998). Together with the Beatles legend, Laine wrote, among other things, the hit “Mull of Kintyre”.
McCartney says goodbye to his former band colleague on Instagram. He was “very sad” to hear of Laine’s death. “I have many fond memories of my time with Denny: from the early days when the Beatles toured with the Moody Blues,” writes the musician. The bands had a lot of respect for each other and had fun together.
Although the two lost sight of each other at some point, “in recent years we managed to restore our friendship and exchange memories of our time together.” The deceased was “an outstanding singer and guitarist” – “a great talent with a fine sense of humor” who was always willing to help other people. McCartney said it was a pleasure to know Laine: “We will all miss you.”
