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Mike Pinder, the keyboardist and final surviving authentic member of the rock group the Moody Blues, has died. he was 82.
Moody Blues bassist John Lodge posted an announcement from Pinder’s household to Fb. “Michael Thomas Pinder died on Wednesday, April twenty fourth, 2024 at his house in Northern California, surrounded by his devoted household. Michael’s household want to share together with his trusted mates and caring followers that he handed peacefully. His last days had been stuffed with music, encircled by the love of his household. Michael lived his life with a childlike marvel, strolling a deeply introspective path which fused the thoughts and the guts.”
Pinder, born within the Erdington space of Birmingham, England, in 1941, co-founded the group in Could 1964, co-writing the early hit “Go Now.” After a number of early lineup modifications, in 1967 they launched “Days of Future Handed,” thought of one of many first prog-rock albums, which additionally noticed Pinder’s debut recording with a Mellotron — an early electro-acoustic keyboard that makes use of manipulated tape loops to create an otherworldly orchestral sound.
The instrument grew to become an indicator of Pinder’s type within the group, together with on its timeless single “Nights in White Satin,” one in every of traditional rock’s most hovering ballads, which finally hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts. Whereas the Moody Blues had been entwined with the late ‘60s hippie period, the band by no means made it to the canonical Woodstock Competition — they had been booked and on the unique poster, however canceled for a European gig.
Pinder was an occasional vocalist within the Moody Blues, singing on tracks like “The Day Begins” and “Journey My See-Noticed,” and drove the band to even headier progressive terrain on LPs like 1968’s “In Search of the Misplaced Chord” and 1969’s “On the Threshold of a Dream.” These albums would affect a technology of ‘70s prog acts like King Crimson, Genesis and Sure.
Pinder would go on to launch 9 albums with the band, together with 1969’s “To Our Youngsters’s Youngsters’s Youngsters” (impressed by the primary moon touchdown), and broadened his repertoire of devices to incorporate Chamberlin and synthesizers. His final contribution to the group was 1978’s “Octave,” the place he sang lead on the ballad “One Step Into the Mild.”
Throughout and after his stint with the band, he launched three solo albums — 1976’s “The Promise,” 1994’s “Among the many Stars” and 1995’s “A Planet With One Thoughts.”
The Moody Blues had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame in 2018. A full listing of survivors was not instantly out there.
“He created his music and the message he shared with the world from this spiritually grounded place,” Pinder’s household stated of their assertion. “As he at all times stated, ‘Hold your head above the clouds, however maintain your toes on the bottom.’ His genuine essence lifted up everybody who got here into contact with him. His lyrics, philosophy, and imaginative and prescient of humanity and our place within the cosmos will contact generations to return.”
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