Songwriter, singer, campaigner and force of nature has died, aged 66, Mike Peters, The former lead singer of The Alarm, has died aged 66. He had been battling cancer for three decades.
In 2019, Peters was awarded an MBE for services to cancer care. Since his diagnosis, he released 10 albums as The Alarm MM++, one as the singer for Big Country, played countless gigs and led several awareness-and-fundraising treks across the world. Doctors first discovered his cancer back in 1996 after he felt “a lump in his collar-bone”. After a seemingly miraculous remission, the cancer returned in 2006. Since then, Peters has dedicated a large part of his life to chronicling his battle with cancer and raising awareness and money through the Love Hope Strength foundation.
Peters’ first band The Toilets were formed in Rhyl, Wales, at the height of the punk explosion in 1977. The Alarm followed in 1981. In 1983, their single “Sixty Eight Guns” made the UK top 20 and affirmed them – alongside peers like U2, Simple Minds and Big Country – as part of a new movement of post-punk bands.
The new breed had neither the aloofness of rock’s old guard nor the nihilism or cynicism of the punks. With albums like 1984’s “Declaration” and the following year’s “Strength”, The Alarm’s statements were bold and full of bravado. In 1999, he formed Coloursound with The Cult’s guitarist Billy Duffy. He helped pioneer fan-centric events by holding The Gathering, a annual weekend event in Wales, for Peters/Alarm fans. In 2000, promoter John Giddings signed him up to support Big Country on their final tour, and billed him as The Alarm 2000.
The following year, he formed Dead Men Walking a kind of ‘punk supergroup’, with Kirk Brandon (Spear of Destiny) and a revolving cast that included Pete Wylie (of the Mighty Wah!), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Captain Sensible (the Damned) In the years between 2017-23, he released seven albums.
Personal matters and changes in musical fashions, brought the band to an end in 1991. Peters continued with a solo career, He was always a beacon of positivity, he was an inspiration to many – a force of nature who took the energy of punk and transformed its nihilism into something positive and inspirational.
The Prestatyn-born singer leaves behind his wife, Jules, 58, and two sons, Dylan, 20, and Evan, 18.
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