It is with deep sadness we announce the passing of Jon Lord, who suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism today, Monday 16th July at the London Clinic, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jon was surrounded by his loving family.
Jon Lord, the legendary keyboard player with Deep Purple co-wrote many of the bands legendary songs including Smoke On The Water and played with many bands and musicians throughout his career.
Best known for his Orchestral work Concerto for Group & Orchestra first performed at Royal Albert Hall with Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969 and conducted by the renowned Malcolm Arnold, a feat repeated in 1999 when it was again performed at the Royal Albert Hall by the London Symphony Orchestra and Deep Purple.
Jon’s solo work was universally acclaimed when he eventually retired from Deep Purple in 2002.
Jon passes from Darkness to Light.
Jon Lord 9 June 1941 – 16 July 2012.
From Rick Wakeman Official Page
I first became aware of Jon Lord in the mid-sixties when Hush was released and I bought the album Shades of Deep Purple which was an album way ahead of its time. For obvious reasons I paid special attention to the organ style and sound as it was quite different from how other Hammond players were using the instrument. I became a genuine admirer and fan of Jon that day and remained so with everything he did
We became real friends just a few years ago although we had met on numerous occasions prior to that. We did talks together at music conservatories, we met for lunch and most importantly made music together. We wrote a piece 12 months ago for the Sunflower Jam at the Royal Albert Hall. We wrote this piece together at John Henry's rehearsal studios in London and it was so easy because we had such different styles and because Jon was concentrating heavily on the Hammond and I on synthesizers, the blend was quite magical. The piece was performed just the once and I am told was filmed. although I have never seen the footage.
We sat in the dressing room which we shared at the Royal Albert Hall and made plans to do an album together. We were both utterly convinced that we could come up with something very special as our styles blended so well together. Our love of classical music and also working that style within that of rock music also completed the bond . We arranged to meet up later that month
One week before we were due to meet Jon called me with the news he was ill. He was very positive and actually said he'd never felt better in his life and so he would beat it however long it took and so to bear with our project which went on hold.
We spoke a couple of times after that and the last message I got was that he was responding well to his treatment. The news today has hurt me like no other loss of a musician I have known. I can only thank him for the legacy he has left us all with his great music, great vision and for his kindness as he was one of the most gentle and kind persons I have ever had the pleasure of being able to call my friend. My heart goes out to Vicki his wife and all his family.
Rick Wakeman
16th July 2012
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