The British guitarist and songwriter Tony Clarkin is dead. The founder of the British rock band Magnum (“Kingdom Of Madness”) died on Sunday after a short illness at the age of 77. This was confirmed by Magnum’s German record company SPV, citing Clarkin’s family. No further details about the cause of death were known.
“I know that Tony has touched many people in so many ways through his music,” his daughter Dionne Clarkin wrote in a statement posted on the Magnum website. “I really don’t have the words yet to express what he meant to me because the grief is still too fresh.”
Clarkin founded Magnum in 1972 with singer Bob Catley. The two were the only constant members of the group, which enjoyed great success, especially in the 1980s, with albums such as “On a Storyteller’s Night”, “Vigilante” and “Wings Of Heaven” and continued to regularly release new music and give concerts until the end. The 23rd studio album “Here Comes The Rain” is scheduled to be released as planned on Friday (January 12th) despite Clarkin’s death.
The band canceled a concert tour planned for spring in December after Tony Clarkin was diagnosed with an incurable spinal disease. The guitarist and songwriter had indicated in a message on the website that the band would no longer be touring in the future, but at the same time expressed the hope that Magnum would still continue.
