Denny Laine, Moody Blues and Paul McCartney’s Wings member, dies aged 79

Denny Laine, the lead vocalist of the Moody Blues and a guitarist for Wings, a band led by Sir Paul McCartney, passed away at the age of 79. The musician died on Tuesday, December 5 in Naples, Florida after a long battle with lung disease, as shared by his wife Elizabeth Hines.

Paul McCartney pays tribute to Denny Laine

His death comes almost exactly 50 years after the release of McCartney’s acclaimed Band On the Run album, on which Laine played guitar and provided backing vocals. On Tuesday, McCartney posted a tribute to Laine on Instagram, calling him a “great talent with a fine sense of humor.”

“We had drifted apart but in recent years managed to reestablish our friendship and share memories of our times together,” McCartney wrote.

Denny Laine’s career trajectory 

Laine was born Brian Frederick Arthur Hines, and changed his professional name in his early teens, in part in homage to the singer Frankie Laine. In 1964, around the time he turned 20, he joined Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder in forming the Moody Blues and sang lead on the group’s breakthrough hit, Go Now. But the Moody Blues struggled to match their initial success, and by 1967 Laine had left, replaced by Justin Hayward. 

The Moody Blues then turned to the ambitious, classically influenced sounds of Nights in White Satin and other songs. Laine worked as a solo artist and with groups such as Electric String Band and Ginger Baker’s Air Force before he was brought into Wings by McCartney, whom he had known during his time with the Moody Blues.

Founded in 1971, the year after the Beatles broke up, Wings No. 1 singles, included My Love, Listen to What the Man Said and the title track to Band On the Run. Laine helped write the million-selling Mull of Kintyre.

McCartney disbanded Wings soon after Laine left in the early 1980s, but Laine contributed to McCartney’s Tug of War and Pipes of Peace albums. He continued to tour and record in recent years, his albums including The Blue Musician.

(with inputs from AP)