Paul McCartney shares candid tribute to Denny Laine: “It was a pleasure to know you”
Former Wings leader Paul McCartney has shared a touching to his late bandmate, Denny Laine, who has died at the age of 79. Laine’s wife, Elizabeth Mele-Hines, has confirmed his passing and revealed his cause of death was lung disease.
Taking to Instagram, Mele-Hines shared an image of her with the former Moody Blues guitarist. She captioned the post: “My darling husband passed away peacefully early this morning. I was at his bedside, holding his hand as I played his favourite Christmas songs for him. He’s been singing Christmas songs the past few weeks, and I continued to play Christmas songs while he’s been in ICU on a ventilator this past week.”
Notably, Laine was a founding member of two significant rock acts, first The Moody Blues, who he played with from 1964 to 1966, and then Wings. He played with Paul and Linda McCartney’s band from 1971 to 1981, when they split following the increasingly strained personal and business relationship between Laine and the former Beatles man. From the 1990s, Laine would be a part of several reunions of Wings members not featuring McCartney.
Mele-Hines continued: “He and I both believed he would overcome his health setbacks and return to the rehabilitation center and eventually home. Unfortunately, his lung disease, Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), is unpredictable and aggressive; each infection weakened and damaged his lungs. He fought everyday. He was so strong and brave, never complained. All he wanted was to be home with me and his pet kitty, Charley, playing his gypsy guitar.”
“Denny was so very thankful to all of you who sent him so much love, support and the many kind words during these past few months of his health crisis-it brought him to tears. I thank you all for sending both of us love and support. It was my absolute honor and privilege to not only be his wife, but to care for him during his illness and vulnerability,” she added.
Now, McCartney has penned a heartfelt tribute reflecting on his long relationship with the late guitarist following his death. He said: “I am very saddened to hear that my ex-bandmate, Denny Laine, has died”.
McCartney added: “I have many fond memories of my time with Denny: from the early days when The Beatles toured with the Moody Blues. Our two bands had a lot of respect for each other and a lot of fun together. Denny joined Wings at the outset. He was an outstanding vocalist and guitar player. His most famous performance is probably ‘Go Now’, an old Bessie Banks song he would sing brilliantly. He and I wrote some songs together the most successful being ‘Mull of Kintyre’ which was a big hit in the seventies”.
He concluded: “We had drifted apart but in recent years managed to reestablish our friendship and share memories of our times together. Denny was a great talent with a fine sense of humour and was always ready to help other people. He will be missed by all his fans and remembered with great fondness by his friends. I send my condolences and best wishes to his wife, Elizabeth and family.
“Peace and love Denny. It was a pleasure to know you. We are all going to miss you”.
See Paul McCartney’s tribute to Denny Laine below.
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