The Alarm Singer Mike Peters Dies at 66 After Long Cancer Fight

[highplainsdem]

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/mike-peters-dead-the-alarm-singer-dies-cancer-1235957806/

Mike Peters, the lead singer of Welsh rock band The Alarm died on Tuesday (April 29) at age 66 following a decades-long battle with cancer. The death of the author of such strident 1980s alt rock anthems as “Blaze of Glory,” “Spirit of ’76,” “Sixty Eight Guns” and “The Stand” was confirmed in a statement from the group’s publicist.

As the lone remaining original member of the punk-turned-rootsy rock group formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1977 (originally known as The Toilets) Peters continued to tour and release music during a three-decade battle with several forms of cancer, putting himself up as an indefatigable advocate for blood cancer patients. In a final gesture, Peters left fans with the haunting song “Totally Free,” on which he sings “I’m free, really free… totally free.”

Last April, before launching a 50-date U.S. tour, he was diagnosed with Richter’s Syndrome, an aggressive form of lymphoma, which caused him to cancel the outing. According to the release, even after extensive treatment at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, U.K., including experimental therapies, doctors could not halt the cancer’s progress.

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Peters was diagnosed with non Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1995, battling that form of cancer, as well as later being twice diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia in 2005 and 2015. Taking on the disease with the same vigor that fed his songs, Peters co-founded the music-driven charity Love Hope Strength with his wife Jules — who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 — as a means to raise awareness around stem cell donation. The organization’s “Get on the List” campaign at his shows helped add more than 250,000 people to the global stem cell registry.

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Much more at the link, including 4 videos.

The song "Totally Free" that's linked to in the second paragraph:

https://www.facebook.com/TheOfficialAlarm/videos/669275545844667/

Article about him from the newspaper in his home town of Rhyl, Wales:

https://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/25123892.totally-free-tributes-pour-alarm-frontman-mike-peters/


I posted The Alarm's biggest hit - Sold Me Down The River - here a few years ago

https://www.democraticunderground.com/103467100

along with video of Tony Visconti, who'd produced that album for them, joining them onstage when Mike and his band were in NYC on tour in 2017. I found a review of their show in Cleveland in 2017 and want to link to that, since those sound like they were amazing concerts that also helped fight cancer:

https://thefirenote.com/reviews/the-alarm-usa-tour-2017-concert-review/

Gone too soon. An extraordinary musician and very admirable man.