from music.msn.com
Veteran musician Mick Farren has died after collapsing onstage while performing with his band the Deviants at a gig in London on Saturday. He was 69. Farren, a former journalist for music magazine NME, was onstage at the Borderline music venue as part of the Atomic Music Festival when he collapsed and lost consciousness. He was later pronounced dead but no further information was available as WENN went to press.
Born in Cheltenham, England, Farren formed the Deviants (originally Social Deviants) in 1967 in Ladbroke Grove in west London, and the band went on to release three albums between 1967 and 1969.Farren’s solo debut, “Mona: The Carnivorous Circus,” followed a year later, but he spent the latter part of his life writing for music publications and, as an author, penned 23 novels and 11 non-fiction books.
A career-spanning anthology of Farren’s writing, “Elvis Died for Somebody’s Sins But Not Mine,” was published earlier this year.
I meet Mick a couple of times at IT (International Times Magazine) as I was going to write a music column for them. The office had a giant nude poster of John & Yoko on the wall and everyone was great and laid back. The next time I arranged to take some copy round, the second I arrived outside the office in London the place was being raided by the police and looked like everyone was arrested. I quickly disappeared and thought this not the right path for me! Johnny Mason