The news of Walker’s death was broken by his close friend, Luca Signorelli, who posted a statement on social media. “I received a call today informing me that Kevin ‘Geordie’ Walker died a few hours ago. He was in Prague, Czech Republic, where he suffered a massive stroke two days earlier,” we read.
Kevin “Geordie” Walker is dead. The Killing Joke guitarist was 64 years old
Signorelli called the artist his best friend and the most important person in his life apart from his family. “I don’t remember any moment spent with him being awkward or boring. He had a reputation for being abrasive and often kept people at a distance. He did it because he didn’t want to waste time on people he didn’t like. He was purely instinctive when it came to liking people.” writes a musician’s friend.
The Killing Joke team also released a statement on the matter. “Kevin died after a stroke, he was surrounded by his loved ones. We are devastated by this information. Rest in peace, brother,” the artists write.
Kevin Walker founded Killing Joke with Jaz Coleman, Paul Ferguson and the bassist known as Youth in the late 1980s. The band came from the post-punk scene, and their style has evolved over the years. In the group’s music you can hear influences of gothic rock, synth-pop, funk and electronic music. Along with Coleman, Walker was the only original member of the band for years.
Killing Joke was his first band. He answered an ad 45 years ago
Walker’s unconventional play was appreciated by generations. The guitarist was praised by his colleague – Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin, and Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine admired that the musician effortlessly achieves his “monstrously strong sound”.
Walker started playing guitar in his teens. “I ran home from school, locked myself in the bedroom, turned up the amplifier all the way and thundered. Of course, until my dad interrupted me. It was our daily ritual,” he recalled in an interview with “Music UK.”
When Walker moved to London to study architecture, he saw an ad from Jaz Coleman looking for musicians for a band. The guitarist had never played in a band before, but he responded to the advertisement.
The Killing Joke group was supposed to play in Poland in 2022 during the Mystic Festival. The musicians canceled the performance at the last minute due to “logistical problems”. Four years earlier, the musicians celebrated their 40th anniversary with the “Laugh at Your Peril” tour. As part of the tour, they played in Stodola in Warsaw.
Source: Gazeta
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