Moody Blues Drummer Graeme Edge Dies at 80

Graeme Edge, the drummer in Birmingham-based rock Moody Blues, died Thursday at the age of 80.

Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward paid a heartfelt tribute to Edge, affirming that Graeme’s sound and personality are present in everything they did together and thankfully that will live on.

“When Graeme told me he was retiring, I knew that without him it couldn’t be the Moody Blues anymore. And that’s what happened. It’s true to say that he kept the group together throughout all the years, because he loved it," Hayward said.

“In the late 1960s we became the group that Graeme always wanted it to be, and he was called upon to be a poet as well as a drummer," Hayward added. "He delivered that beautifully and brilliantly, while creating an atmosphere and setting that the music would never have achieved without his words.”

Hayward also recalled the band’s early days, mentioning that Graeme and his parents were very kind to him when he first joined the group. He also asserted that they had fun and laughs all the way despite having almost nothing in common.

“Graeme was one of the great characters of the music business and there will never be his like again. My sincerest condolences to his family.”

The band was famous for such hits as Nights in White Satin and Tuesday Afternoon. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.