Singer Keyboardist for Band Dies Days After Wedding

Dexys Midnight Runners singer and keyboard player Andy Leek has passed.

Leek had been married only days before dying at the age of 66.

According to reports, he passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

He’s Gone

This is not a band that would be familiar to most younger music enthusiasts today.

The band was originally founded in 1978 and remained active through 1986.

The band then took a hiatus, came back again in 2003, and continues to play, although they are not an act you would see at a major venue.

The group played Celtic Folk, Blue-eyed Soul, New Wave, and Pop Rock music.

Leek was not a founding member of the group, but joined the band in 1980 when two other members departed.

He was brought in to play keyboards, while Andy Growcott was brought aboard to play drums.

Leek’s time did not last long, as he left after the band had a song that hit the British Number One on the charts.

Leek claimed he did not want to be famous, and left, with the band bringing Pete Saunders back so they could record the full album.

Leek went on to pursue a solo career, with “Say Something” his most significant success.

Leek has had a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, having been diagnosed in 2009, with Deborah Smtih Lawrence by his side for most of that time.

Smith and Leek were together for 35 years, but they only recently married, with Leek’s health clearly fading.

The couple were married on October 30, with Leek dying on November 3 while in hospice care.

Smith Lawrence paid tribute to her husband on social media, writing, “The poet Mary Oliver wrote: ‘Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.’ And the unimaginable has happened. My beautiful Andy left us on Sunday, November 3.”

Her post concluded, “Equally I have no words to convey the shock and the sorrow I feel, yet I have the enduring love and a lifetime of the most amazing memories of being with such an exquisite man.

“My soulmate, my husband, and my best friend. Andy’s incredible talent and musical legacy as a poet, songwriter, musician, and a world-class singer will endure.”