MUSIC STAR GONE
Dexys Midnight Runners founding member Andy Leek dies aged 66 after battle with Parkinson’s
Leek achieved an unlikely number-one single in wartorn Lebanon
Dexys Midnight Runners founding member Andy Leek has died aged 66 after a battle with Parkinson's disease.
Leek performed as the 80s Birmingham band's pianist before enjoying a successful solo career as a singer-songwriter.
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The band made five albums, scoring two top-of-the-chart hits: Geno in 1980 and Come on Eileen in 1982.
Leek achieved a number-one single in Lebanon with his song "Say Something".
The song became a unity anthem during the Middle Eastern country's bitter civil war.
In 2008 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at the age of just 49.
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Leek married his longtime partner Deborah Smith Lawrence on October 30 before he passed away on November 3.
Writing on Facebook, Deborah said: "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.
"Mercifully he was held safe at Goscote Hospice, which is the most peaceful place I have known in my entire life."
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She added: "He received truly compassionate and loving care from people there.
"I was with him, by his side in those most fragile last moments and he died as he lived, courageously."
Deborah said Andy was "phenomenal" person who had lived with Parkinson's disease for almost 20 years.
She said: "He was by turns strong and gentle, funny and vulnerable, freedom-loving, fiercely creative, passionate and intelligent.
"Yet always so immensely loving, generous and authentic.
"His response to his diagnosis? To play music and to craft song. The album Waking Up the World was written in that maelstrom.
"I am grateful beyond words for the team at Derby who are exemplary in every way."
Deborah added: "Fiona, Caroline, Clare, Suzanne, Louise, Rob, Kaanthan.
";All of you, I pray you know how much your care meant to us both and that Andy loved you all.
"As people in our world hear the news, they tell me how much they loved him.
"He was a real character and they were inspired by the way he faced down his condition with consummate grace and grit.
"Naturally they tell me they are listening to his music and this he would treasure."
Deborah said she and Andy had planned a Christmas wedding - but ended up marrying days before his death instead.
Who are Dexys Midnight Runners?
DEXYS Midnight Runners were founded in Birmingham in 1978.
They are best known in the UK for their songs "Geno" and "Come On Eileen", both of which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.
The band achieved six other top-20 singles before breaking up in 1987.
Only Kevin Rowland remained in the band from start to finish amid many changes in its line-up.
Come On Eileen also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and is still a favourite at weddings, proms and student nightclubs.
She said: "We were together for 35 years and being the bohemian souls we are, felt no need for the convention of marriage.
"Yet recently we wanted to wed and we were planning a Christmas Wedding.
"Tragically this was not to be and we were married on October 30 at Walsall Manor.
"I cannot convey how bittersweet this is, to have married and to have lost the love of my life within one week."
Deborah added: "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.
"It’s the album Eternity Beckons that touches me most right now.
"This magic is his gift to us all so please do as he bids, listen with an open mind and an open heart.
"God Bless You my darling. I am heartbroken but honoured to have been your woman, your best friend and your wife."
Leek described Eternity Beckons as his own favourite album, saying: "This is my favourite album.
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"I play all of the instruments myself, sang all the vocals and programmed the drums.
He added: "Listen with an open mind and heart, and much magic awaits you."
Everything you need to know about Parkinson’s
Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition, meaning that it causes problems in the brain and gets worse over time.
It affects around 153,000 people in the UK.
People with Parkinson's don't have enough of the chemical dopamine because some of the nerve cells that make it have stopped working.
This can cause a range of more than 40 symptoms, but the three main ones are:
- Tremor (shaking)
- Slow movement
- Rigidity (muscle stiffness)
Other common signs include:
- Mild memory and thinking problems
- Trouble sleeping
- Issues with balance
- Pain
- Anxiety and depression
- Shuffling walk with very small steps
- Difficulty making facial expressions
- Loss of sense of smell
- Problems peeing
- Constipation
The four main ways of managing Parkinson's include medication, staying active, exploring occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech and language therapy, and monitoring symptoms.
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