Denny Laine, the singer and co-founder of The Moody Blues who was also a member of the British-American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, has died after a long battle with interstitial lung disease. He was 79
“My darling husband passed away peacefully early this morning. I was at his bedside, holding his hand as I played his favorite Christmas songs for him,” his wife, Elizabeth Hines, reportedly said in a statement, according to multiple outlets.
“He’s been singing Christmas songs the past few weeks and I continued to play Christmas songs while he’s been in ICU on a ventilator this past week,” she continued.
“He and I both believed he would overcome his health setbacks and return to the rehabilitation center and eventually home. Unfortunately, his lung disease, Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), is unpredictable and aggressive; each infection weakened and damaged his lungs.”
“He fought every day. He was so strong and brave, never complained. All he wanted was to be home with me and his pet kitty, Charley, playing his gypsy guitar.”
The Post has contacted a rep for Moody Blues for comment.
Laine was born Brian Frederick Hines on Oct. 29, 1944, in Birmingham, England. The music bug hit early and the future legend joined forces with future Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan to form Denny Laine and the Diplomats.
In 1964 he united with new local act led by Ray Thomas and Mike Ponder to create blues cover band The Moody Blues, also with Graeme Edge and Clint Warwick.
The group’s biggest hits include “Nights in White Satin,” “Your Wildest Dreams,” and “Melancholy Man.”
The Moody Blues also recorded a cover of Bessie Banks’ song “Go Now” featuring Laine on lead vocals and guitar.
The song garnered the band some attention and hit No. One in England, but after the release of their debut LP, “The Magnificent Moodies,” Laine quit the band citing issues with the record label.
“They wanted us to stay out on the road and make some money,” Laine explained in an interview with North Coast Music Beat. “Like every other band, we got ripped off. We got the fame, but we didn’t get the money.”
A few years later he teamed up with Paul and Linda McCartney, whom he met when he opened up for the Beatles, to form Wings in 1971.
He co-wrote the Wings classic “Mull of Kintyre” in 1978 with McCartney. The song became the only Wings 45 to reach No. 1 in the U.K., selling more than 2 million copies.
“He had an idea for a song,” Laine told the Tallahassee Democrat in 2017. “I went around to have breakfast with [the McCartneys] up in Scotland….I heard the chorus and I said, ‘That’s a potentially hit song.’ So the next day we went and finished it off. We sat down and wrote the lyrics and put it together. Then we brought in the Campbeltown Pipe Band and they were all excited. It was the first time they’d ever been in a studio and it was fun. We recorded the pipes and drums outside so we got the echoes off the mountains. It came out at Christmas and it was a big hit [in England].”
Laine won two Grammy Awards with the Wings, for best pop vocal performance by a duo or group for “Band on the Run,” and best rock instrumental performance for “Rockestra Theme.”
Laine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 for his contributions made to the industry as part of the Moody Blues.