The Alarm’s Mike Peters has died.
News of the Welsh musician’s passing was confirmed a few moments ago by the BBC, citing multiple sources. Mike Peters was 66 years old, and had been undergoing treatment for cancer.
A full statement was posted on The Alarm’s social media channels.
The Alarm formed as the white heat of punk dissipated, a group who wanted to change the movement’s nihilism by introducing a sense of social purpose. Debuting in 1981, the Welsh group pushed for their independence, singles such as ‘Sixty Eight Guns’ taking socially aware messaging into the charts.
Invited on tour with U2 their huge live sound caught attention, building a big following on both sides of the Atlantic.
The band enjoyed huge success through the 80s, closing the decade with a Welsh-language version of their 1989 album ‘Change’, called ‘Newid’.
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The 90s saw Mike Peters go solo, but a cancer diagnosis in 1995 would change his life. Fighting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the musician would go on to become a charity trailblazer, helping to raise awareness of the experiences cancer sufferers go through, while raising vast sums of money.
He co-founded the Love Hope Strength Foundation alongside his wife, using live shows as a means to recruit bone marrow donors – often in scarce supply.
Last year Mike Peters revealed to fans that he had been diagnosed with cancer once more, writing:
Cancer has been chasing me for 29 years now, and in all that time, I have managed to outrun the disease and stay alive. My focus and resolve remain the same, and I’m determined to keep running even harder to stay one step ahead and resume my life as a husband, father, and musician as soon as possible.
Sadly, it was not to be. In 2017, he told Guitar World magazine that his “simple message” was “to stay alive and appreciate every second you’ve got”.
“Live right up to the last breath and stay positive about the world, your family and the environment you live in.”
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