Mike Peters, The Alarm frontman, dies after 30-year cancer battle

Mike Peters, the lead singer of Welsh rock band The Alarm, has passed away following a decades-long battle with cancer. He was 66.

Mike Peters was first diagnosed with lymphoma in 1995. While he initially looked to be headed towards recovery, he would later be diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

It was around this time that Mike Peters helped found Love, Hope, Strength, an organization meant to help those with cancer and leukaemia. In a 2013 interview, Peters said, “The goal is and always will be to keep fighting cancer.  Unfortunately, it’s like trying to hit a moving target at all times. The disease keeps changing and is as human as you and I. It also has a survival instinct all of its own and so we will probably never reach the ultimate goal of eradicating it, but if LHSF can help one person to win and get back to health then that shall be our goal.”

Mike Peters was no doubt an inspiration, persevering and continuing to make music despite the multiple diagnoses. In fact, Peters released multiple solo albums well after The Alarm disbanded in 1991. The band officially formed in its known form in 1981, soon landing their biggest hit with 1983’s “Sixty Eight Guns”, which reached the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album, Declaration, which featured that song, would prove to be their greatest success. The original run of the group released five albums in just eight years.

To mark The Alarm’s 40th anniversary, the band launched a tour. While it saw delays, Mike Peters said of handling both the production and his illness, “We did the tour in April and May, and it was amazing, it was fantastic, a full-on British tour, big shows every night, we were playing 32 songs in an hour and forty-five minutes, pretty intense. But during the day, I wasn’t well—I was coughing, I found it hard to sleep, I was having night sweats. But as soon as I stepped over the line and went onstage, I was fine—I could sing full-tilt.”

Outside of The Alarm, Mike Peters not only released solo work but served as singer for Big Country once they reformed in 2010. While that Scottish band’s heyday was long behind them, Peters was instrumental in their continuation. He also felt a sort of relief in playing with them, as the band already had an established reputation long before he stepped in.

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Mike Peters. You can leave your own in the comments section below.

The post Mike Peters, The Alarm frontman, dies after 30-year cancer battle appeared first on JoBlo.