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Tony Clarkin (second from left) with his band Magnum: "I know that Tony has touched many people in so many ways through his music," wrote his daughter Dionne Clarkin after her father's death
Photograph:
Rob Barrow / dpa
British guitarist and songwriter Tony Clarkin has died. The founder of the British rock band Magnum ("Kingdom Of Madness") died on Sunday after a short illness at the age of 77. Magnum's German record company SPV confirmed this on Tuesday, citing Clarkin's family. Further details on the cause of death were not disclosed.
"I know Tony has touched a lot of people in so many ways through his music," his daughter, Dionne Clarkin, wrote in a statement posted Tuesday on the Magnum website. "I really don't have the words yet to express what he meant to me, because the grief is still too fresh."
Clarkin had formed Magnum in 1972 together with singer Bob Catley. The two were the only constant members of the group, which celebrated great success, especially in the eighties with albums such as »On a Storyteller's Night«, »Vigilante« or »Wings Of Heaven« and regularly released new music and gave concerts until the end. Despite Clarkin's death, the 23rd studio album »Here Comes The Rain« will be released as planned on Friday (12 January).
The band had cancelled a concert tour planned for spring in December after Tony Clarkin was diagnosed with an incurable disease of the spine. The guitarist and songwriter had hinted in a message on the website that the band would not go on tour in the future, but at the same time expressed the hope that it would continue with Magnum anyway.
hen/dpa