IN MEMORIAM
John Lawton In 1970, the powerful vocalist John Lawton co-founded Lucifer’s Friend, who debuted that year with their self-titled album and first single, “Ride the Sky.” He continued with Lucifer’s Friend for the next four albums. Lawton then replaced David Byron in Uriah Heep as their lead singer from late 1976 through 1979 for three studio albums, with songs such as the catchy “Falling in Love.”
After Lawton’s Uriah Heep years, he returned to Lucifer’s Friend. In recent years the group released the 2016 reunion album Too Late to Hate and 2019’s Black Moon. Lawton also performed at different Uriah Heep concerts and reunions.
On July 1, 2019, John Lawton sang Uriah Heep’s “July Morning” at the annual Bulgarian July Morning festival for a final time and reported to , “The gig was good, with sunrise at 5:33 a.m. just as the opening notes, “It was the first time in 15 years that I missed it. Maybe next year.” In late June 2021, Lawton and his wife, Iris, arrived in Bulgaria, where he passed away unexpectedly on June 29 at age 74. Lawton’s passing is the third Uriah Heep member death in the past year, beginning with drummer Lee Kerslake last September followed by keyboardist Ken Hensley last November.
