Denny Laine, a founding member of the Moody Blues who later served as Paul McCartney’s right-hand man in Wings, died on Tuesday at age 79.
His demise was introduced on social media by his spouse, Elizabeth Hines. “I used to be at his bedside holding his hand as I performed his favourite Christmas songs for him,” she wrote. “My world won’t ever be the identical. Denny was an amazingly fantastic particular person, so loving and candy to me. He made my days colourful, enjoyable, and lively — similar to him.”
The reason for demise was interstitial lung illness. Laine had been affected by quite a lot of sicknesses after contracting COVID-19 in 2022.
Laine sang the excessive, pleading lead vocals on “Go Now,” the breakthrough hit from the Moody Blues in 1964. Though he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame with the Moody Blues in 2018, he wasn’t a member for very lengthy. By the top of 1966, he left the group, spending the remainder of the last decade wandering via quite a lot of bands earlier than forming Wings with Paul and Linda McCartney in 1971. Wings had a unstable lineup however Laine performed guitar in each incarnation of the group, sometimes stepping ahead to sing lead — he sang many of the amiable shuffle “I Lie Round,” whereas the moody “Time to Conceal” offered him time within the highlight whereas on tour — and infrequently co-writing songs with Paul McCartney, together with “Mull of Kintyre,” a folky paean to Scotland that was the bestselling single of all time in the UK for a number of years after its 1977 launch.
Wings’ Henry McCullough, from left, Denny Laine and Paul McCartney performing in 1972.
(Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns by way of Getty Photographs)
McCartney paid tribute to Laine on social media. “I’ve many fond reminiscences of my time with Denny,” he wrote, “from the early days when the Beatles toured with the Moody Blues. Our two bands had loads of respect for one another and loads of enjoyable collectively. Denny joined Wings on the outset. He was an impressive vocalist and guitar participant …. We had drifted aside however in recent times managed to reestablish our friendship and share reminiscences of our occasions collectively.
“Denny was a fantastic expertise with a high quality sense of humour and was at all times prepared to assist different individuals. He shall be missed by all his followers and remembered with nice fondness by his buddies.”
Born Brian Frederick Hines on October 29, 1944, in Tyseley, Birmingham, Laine discovered guitar at an early age, discovering inspiration within the scorching dance music of Django Reinhardt. When he turned 12, he performed his first skilled gig because the frontman for Denny Laine and the Diplomats, swiping the final title from Frankie Laine, a crooner who was a selected favourite of his sister. With Bev Bevan, a drummer who later anchored the Transfer and Electrical Mild Orchestra, sometimes in tow, Laine carried out with the Diplomats into the early Sixties, departing in 1964 to type the Moody Blues with Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas.
Initially rooted within the blues, the Moody Blues discovered success branching into R&B and soul, a mix showcased on their model of “Go Now,” a tune by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett initially recorded by Bessie Banks for producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller earlier in 1964. The stately, dramatic rendition by the Moody Blues grew to become a transatlantic smash, reaching No. 1 within the U.Okay. and the High 10 within the U.S. Wanting to capitalize on their success, the Moody Blues toured in assist of “Go Now,” a choice that grated on Laine, who wished the group to right away minimize a second album. The disagreement led to his departure in 1966.
The Moody Blues, with Denny Laine, prime proper, in 1964.
(Robert Stiggins/Getty Photographs)
Because the Moody Blues discovered better fame with their 1967 album “Days of Future Handed” and its hit singles “Nights in White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon,” Laine launched a couple of solo singles earlier than forming and disbanding a succession of bold bands. First got here the Electrical String Band, a psychedelic outfit that blended hooky rock with orchestral strings that includes guitarist Trevor Burton, who was moonlighting from the Transfer. After Burton severed ties with that band, the 2 musicians spent a while in Ginger Baker’s Air Power — the jazz-inflected band from the previous drummer of Cream — then went on to type Balls, which launched one single earlier than splitting in 1971.
At that time, Paul McCartney contacted Laine about the opportunity of becoming a member of him and his spouse, Linda, in a brand new band. Wanting to play dwell live shows for the reason that waning days of the Beatles, McCartney conceived Wings as a back-to-basics rock ‘n’ roll band, debuting the group on 1971’s modest, shambling “Wild Life.” From the outset, the group had issue sustaining a steady lineup, however Laine developed a productive relationship with McCartney. He was the one member to stay when Wings was whittled to a trio for “Band on the Run,” the 1973 album that discovered McCartney righting himself each creatively and commercially. Over the following few years, Wings was one of many greatest bands in rock, a interval through which Laine repeatedly took lead spots on report and onstage. He additionally launched two solo albums throughout this time, together with 1976’s “Holly Days,” which featured Paul and Linda.
After wrapping up the tour for “Wings on the Pace of Sound” in 1977, the band pared again right down to the trio of the McCartneys and Laine, and this lineup launched “Mull of Kintyre,” which spent 9 weeks on the prime of the U.Okay. charts. This turned out to be the final flush of success from Wings. The promotional marketing campaign for the hard-rocking “Again to the Egg” was derailed after McCartney’s arrest in Japan for marijuana possession in 1980. McCartney tried to revive Wings later that yr however he had little curiosity in touring after his bust and John Lennon’s homicide in December of that yr. Laine left Wings in 1981, successfully bringing the band to an finish.
Denny Laine acting at New York’s Carnegie Corridor on March 15, 2023.
(Bobby Financial institution/Getty Photographs)
Laine would play on McCartney’s Nineteen Eighties albums “Tug of Struggle” and “Pipes of Peace,” however he spent the following decade and past concentrating on his solo profession. Though he performed with World Traditional Rockers, a collective of surviving rockers that includes Nick St. Nicholas of Steppenwolf, Laine didn’t duck away from the legacy of both Wings or McCartney. He usually toured enjoying the music of Wings, and in addition minimize re-recordings of his older work.
Laine is survived by Hines, whom he married in July, alongside along with his 4 youngsters.
