3 weeks ago
5
Lodge spent implicit 50 years connected bass for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, portion besides singing connected hits similar "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)."
English instrumentalist and bass guitarist with The Moody Blues, John Lodge pictured unrecorded connected signifier performing the medium Blue Jays successful 1975. Michael Putland/Getty Images
John Lodge, bassist and vocalist for symphonic prog-rock greats The Moody Blues for implicit 50 years, died this week. A station from his household appeared connected his authoritative Facebook leafage Friday greeting (Oct. 10) announcing that Lodge “has been abruptly and unexpectedly taken from us.” He was 82.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
Lodge was calved successful the suburbs of Birmingham, England successful 1948. After falling successful emotion with stone and rotation successful its aboriginal days, helium started playing successful Birmingham bands successful the aboriginal ’60s and met Ray Thomas, who would soon go a founding subordinate of the Moody Blues. When that band’s archetypal bassist Clint Warwick near the radical successful 1966, Lodge stepped successful astatine his replacement.
At the clip helium joined the band, The Moody Blues had scored conscionable 1 existent illustration hit, a blue-eyed psyche screen of Bessie Banks’ “Go Now!” that peaked astatine No. 10 connected the Billboard Hot 100 successful April 1965. Following the summation of Lodge (as good arsenic caller guitarist and vocalist Justin Hayward), the set took a crook towards much symphonic, progressive and psychedelic rock. The band’s archetypal medium successful its caller configuration, 1967’s ambitious Days of Future Passed was not a large illustration deed astatine first, but did spawn different Hot 100 deed successful the No. 22-peaking “Tuesday Afternoon,” and began to triumph implicit a devoted fanbase with its lush arrangements and panoramic show and presentation.
The band’s albums grew progressively palmy done the precocious ’60s and aboriginal ’70s, arsenic the set deed the apical 5 of the Billboard 200 with each of 1970’s A Question of Balance, 1971’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and 1972’s Seventh Sojourn — its archetypal No. 1 connected the Billboard 200 — portion spinning disconnected Hot 100 hits similar 1970’s “Question” (No. 21) and 1971’s “The Story successful Your Eyes” (No. 23). The band’s biggest deed of each would not travel from these ’70s albums, however, but from a revived item of Days of Future Passed, arsenic that album’s climactic epic “Nights successful White Satin” reached No. 2 successful precocious 1972, 5 years aft its archetypal release.