Denny Laine, Wings and The Moody Blues Co-Founder, Dies at 79

British musician Denny Laine, a co-founding member of the rock bands The Moody Blues and Wings, died on Tuesday at the age of 79

“My darling husband passed away peacefully early this morning,” Laine’s wife, Elizabeth Hines, wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “I was at his bedside, holding his hand as I played his favorite Christmas songs for him.”

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The English musician, born Oct. 29, 1944, took up guitar in his youth, inspired by jazz guitar great Django Reinhardt. After a stint in a band called The Diplomats, he became a co-founder of the legendary British rock outfit The Moody Blues in 1964 alongside singer Mike Pinder. Laine lent a lilting lead vocal performance to the group’s first hit, a smash cover of “Go Now,” which topped the U.K. singles chart and reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Laine’s tenure with the group was brief – following 1965’s The Magnificent Moodies, he left the band, which would go on to help pioneer prog-rock with its second album, Days of Future Passed. (His membership in the Moody Blues ensured his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.)

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Following the Moody Blues, Laine formed the Electric String Band, released a couple solo singles and played alongside Cream skinsman Ginger Baker in Ginger Baker’s Air Force. But an unexpected phone call from an old friend returned Laine to the top in 1971. Paul McCartney, whom Laine had known since the early ‘60s, rang him up and invited Laine to join a new band the former Beatle was forming alongside his wife, Linda McCartney. For the next decade, Laine and the McCartneys were the sole constants of the band’s ever-shifting lineup – in fact, it was solely the core trio that crafted what became the band’s most celebrated album, 1973’s Band on the Run.

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Wings officially wrapped by the 1980s, but Laine and McCartney stayed in touch, with Laine playing on Macca’s Tug of War (1982) and Pipes of Peace(1983), in addition to co-writing the “Ebony and Ivory” b-side, “Rainclouds.”

Following Laine’s death, McCartney posted a tribute to him on Instagram on Dec. 5. “I am very saddened to hear that my ex-bandmate, Denny Laine, has died,” he wrote.

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McCartney contributed to Laine’s solo efforts released during the tenure of Wings, including the delightfully lo-fi Buddy Holly covers album Holly Days in 1977 and Japanese Tears in 1980. Laine’s final solo effort, The Blue Musician, came out in 2008, though he continued to perform live. Laine had announced tour dates for 2023, but his health issues forced him to cancel them.

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