IN MEMORIAM
Pete Way
The energetic British bassist Pete Way was a member of UFO since the band’s late 1960s beginnings through the early 1980s, and then returned for six more albums beginning in the early 1990s. In the U.S., UFO’s highest charting album was Lights Out, which reached No. 23 in 1977 and opened with “Too Hot to Handle,” co-written by Pete with the band’s vocalist Phil Mogg. This song was also UFO’s only charting single in the U.S. and was released on red vinyl. That classic album also featured their orchestrated cover of Love’s “Alone Again Or,” which received heavy FM radio airplay.
After initially leaving UFO, Pete co-founded the bands Fastway and Waysted, along with playing bass on Ozzy Osbourne’s Diary of a Madman tour. Phil passed away on August 14 at the age of 69, just weeks after fellow UFO member Paul Chapman’s passing.
The following piece is written by Goldmine contributor and Twisted Sister founder/guitarist John “Jay Jay” French, who knew the UFO bassist Pete Way very well.
MORE THAN just another death announcement, this is personal. UFO bassist Pete Way died on August 14, 2020 at the age of 69 after complications arose from an accident at home a few months prior.
I last spoke to Pete two years ago after he survived a heart attack, and we discussed his successful fight against prostate cancer.
Pete produced Twisted Sister’s first album for Secret Records. Pete was a favorite of the British ‘metal ‘ press ( and and was close to many ot the artists that we, as a band, revered (i.e., Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Ozzy/Sabbath and, of course, UFO.) He was flown to New York to see us
