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Deacon blue keyboard player James Prime dies after short battle with cancer
Deacon blue keyboard player James Prime dies after short battle with cancer

Leader Live

time20-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Leader Live

Deacon blue keyboard player James Prime dies after short battle with cancer

The Scottish pop-rock band announced the news shortly after Prime, from Kilmarnock, died on Thursday morning. They wrote on social media: 'Dear friends, We announce with great sadness that our brother James Prime passed away this morning after a short struggle with cancer. Dear friends, We announce with great sadness that our brother James Prime passed away this morning after a short struggle with cancer. Thank you so much for the messages of support that you shared over the last two weeks, they meant so much to Jim, his family & us. With love, DBx — Deacon Blue (@deaconbluemusic) June 19, 2025 'Thank you so much for the messages of support that you shared over the last two weeks, they meant so much to Jim, his family & us. With love, DBx.' Founded in 1985, Deacon Blue consist of Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh on vocals, Dougie Vipond on drums, Gregor Philp on guitar, and Lewis Gordon on bass. The group have released 11 studio albums to date, as well as two live albums, eight compilation albums, and an album that features both studio and compilation elements. They are best known for their hit single Dignity, which propelled them to success in their early years. Earlier this month, the band said Prime, who was also a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland, was seriously ill. They wrote on social media on June 11: 'We wanted to share some news with you about our brother, Jim. 'Unfortunately, he is seriously ill and undergoing care in hospital. We would like you to join us in wishing him well and to share your love with him. 'We spoke to Jim yesterday about Deacon Blue's plans for the rest of the year, and he encouraged us to continue with love in our hearts and with his full blessing that the shows go ahead, even if it means replacing the irreplaceable James Miller Prime for the time being. 'Together with Jim's family, we want to thank all the nurses, doctors and ICU staff for their ongoing care, professionalism and compassion.'

Jim Prime, widely admired keyboard lynchpin of Deacon Blue
Jim Prime, widely admired keyboard lynchpin of Deacon Blue

The Herald Scotland

time19-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • The Herald Scotland

Jim Prime, widely admired keyboard lynchpin of Deacon Blue

Died: June 19, 2025. WHEN Ricky Ross was putting his band Deacon Blue together in 1986, he heard of a talented keyboard player named Jim Prime. He rang Prime's number but a woman who answered told him that he had picked a bad time. At length, a breathless Prime picked up the receiver and told Ross that he had gone into the street to 'stop a guy beating up his wife' in a domestic argument. As Ross wrote in 2022, 'the strangeness of the conversation set the scene for the next thirty-five years'. When Prime attended a rehearsal and heard a new song, Raintown, wrote Ross, 'something began to happen to make it sound like a band who had a direction. A lot of that 'something' was about what Jim brought to the arrangement'. Read more: Who was Deacon Blue keyboardist and 'Killie boy' James Prime? Deacon Blue announce death of founder member Jim Prime after short cancer battle Deacon Blue announce new album and huge Scottish shows for 2025 Prime, who has died, aged 64, of cancer, 21 years to the month since the passing of the band's guitarist, Graeme Kelling, also from cancer, was an integral part of Deacon Blue's sound. The band's debut album, Raintown, featured Prime and Kelling alongside Ross, Ewen Vernal on bass, Dougie Vipond on drums and Lorraine McIntosh on vocals. Released in May 1987, it went into the British Top 20 and yielded such classic Deacon Blue songs as Dignity, Born in a Storm, Raintown and When Will You (Make My Phone Ring). Two years later the band released a follow-up album, When the World Knows Your Name, which went to number one and opened doors for them in America. All told, the band enjoyed 12 UK Top 40 singles and two chart-topping albums, and became one of Scotland's most successful musical exports. James Miller Prime was born in Kilmarnock on November 3, 1960. Asked last year on the Australian interview series, The Keyboard Chronicles, when he realised he had a passion for music, he said he had been brought up classically trained and that he came from a 'long line of piano players in my house'. His three sisters played the flute, piano and guitar, but he had 'something else that was going on'; he started playing piano at the tender age of four. 'My mum said, 'I was in the kitchen and you heard Loch Lomond on the radio and you ran through to the piano and you just played the melody - you couldn't even play the piano'. I couldn't even reach it. 'I guess that's something I know inside myself, that I'm kind of joined to this thing', he added, indicating his piano. The bass guitarist Alan Thomson, who had played with John Martyn, was a neighbour, and he would regularly arrived at the Prime household at 8am, drag Prime out of his bed and force him to practice. The US Southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, were the reason that he became a keyboards player; their keyboards player, Billy Powell, was 'outrageously good'. Prime dropped out of college at the age of 20 to join the brilliant guitarist John Martyn's band but, as he told the Deacon Blue biographer, Paul English, he eventually left because he could not stand it. 'There was drink everywhere, paranoia and violence. I was too young to be with these really heavyweight musicians. I left under the guise of joining Altered Images, and eventually ended up on tour with them in America when I was 22. We toured right across America, it was absolutely stunning. People like Blondie and Nile Rodgers came backstage and I ended up with a load of tips on how to be a pop musician'. Returning to Glasgow after the break-up of Altered Images, he got a job in a Southside pub, The Granary. An encounter with the owner of the nearby Park Lane Studios led to a recommendation to contact a Ricky Ross. 'When we met, I immediately thought there was something about this guy', he told English. 'Not only was he writing songs on the piano, but he had gear, and he was dead set. And I fell in love with the idea that he wanted to put keyboards at the centre of his songs'. Prime's career with Deacon Blue spanned world tours, bestselling records and many memorable moments. One early such highlight came at Sir George Martin's AIR Studios in London, during the making of the debut album: the piano he was sitting at turned out to be the same one used by Stevie Wonder to compose his hit song, Superstition. In 1990, at a John Lennon tribute concert in Liverpool, Prime met Yoko Ono, Lennon's son Julian, and the Superman actor, Christopher Reeve. That same year, Deacon Blue headlined the massive Big Day event on Glasgow Green, part of Glasgow's European City of Culture celebrations. Deacon Blue broke up in 1994 and the band went their separate ways before reconvening in 1999. Prime toured with the colourful French singer, Johnny Hallyday, and played in the band that accompanied Bill Bryden's 1994 epic promenade production of a Govan regiment in the Great War. He was also involved in the establishment of a School of Music and Recording Technology in South Ayrshire. Away from Deacon Blue, Jim Prime was also a popular lecturer in music at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). He spoke about his time teaching there, sayinG: 'You can imagine a class with me doesn't come from any book. I try as much as I can now to tell people about the power that their music has for other people, not just writing songs in bedrooms and being on the stage. I do a lot of work with Alzheimer's Scotland, and I've done stuff with special needs and I try to encourage kids to get out there and talk to all people and help them with their memory'.

Deacon Blue's James Prime dies after cancer battle
Deacon Blue's James Prime dies after cancer battle

South Wales Argus

time19-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • South Wales Argus

Deacon Blue's James Prime dies after cancer battle

The Scottish pop-rock band announced the news shortly after Prime, from Kilmarnock, died on Thursday morning. They wrote on X: 'Dear friends, We announce with great sadness that our brother James Prime passed away this morning after a short struggle with cancer. 'Thank you so much for the messages of support that you shared over the last two weeks, they meant so much to Jim, his family & us. With love, DBx.' Dear friends, We announce with great sadness that our brother James Prime passed away this morning after a short struggle with cancer. Thank you so much for the messages of support that you shared over the last two weeks, they meant so much to Jim, his family & us. With love, DBx — Deacon Blue (@deaconbluemusic) June 19, 2025 Deacon Blue keyboardist James Prime dies aged 64 Deacon Blue consists of Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh on vocals, Dougie Vipond on drums, Gregor Philp on guitar, and Lewis Gordon on bass. They are best known for their hit single Dignity, which propelled them to success in their early years. The group has released 11 studio albums to date, as well as two live albums, eight compilation albums, and an album that features both studio and compilation elements. Earlier this month, the band said Prime, who was also a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland, was seriously ill. They wrote on social media on June 11: 'We wanted to share some news with you about our brother, Jim. Recommended reading: 'Unfortunately, he is seriously ill and undergoing care in hospital. We would like you to join us in wishing him well and to share your love with him. 'We spoke to Jim yesterday about Deacon Blue's plans for the rest of the year, and he encouraged us to continue with love in our hearts and with his full blessing that the shows go ahead, even if it means replacing the irreplaceable James Miller Prime for the time being. 'Together with Jim's family, we want to thank all the nurses, doctors and ICU staff for their ongoing care, professionalism and compassion.'

Deacon blue keyboard player James Prime dies after short battle with cancer
Deacon blue keyboard player James Prime dies after short battle with cancer

South Wales Guardian

time19-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • South Wales Guardian

Deacon blue keyboard player James Prime dies after short battle with cancer

The Scottish pop-rock band announced the news shortly after Prime, from Kilmarnock, died on Thursday morning. They wrote on social media: 'Dear friends, We announce with great sadness that our brother James Prime passed away this morning after a short struggle with cancer. Dear friends, We announce with great sadness that our brother James Prime passed away this morning after a short struggle with cancer. Thank you so much for the messages of support that you shared over the last two weeks, they meant so much to Jim, his family & us. With love, DBx — Deacon Blue (@deaconbluemusic) June 19, 2025 'Thank you so much for the messages of support that you shared over the last two weeks, they meant so much to Jim, his family & us. With love, DBx.' Founded in 1985, Deacon Blue consist of Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh on vocals, Dougie Vipond on drums, Gregor Philp on guitar, and Lewis Gordon on bass. The group have released 11 studio albums to date, as well as two live albums, eight compilation albums, and an album that features both studio and compilation elements. They are best known for their hit single Dignity, which propelled them to success in their early years. Earlier this month, the band said Prime, who was also a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland, was seriously ill. They wrote on social media on June 11: 'We wanted to share some news with you about our brother, Jim. 'Unfortunately, he is seriously ill and undergoing care in hospital. We would like you to join us in wishing him well and to share your love with him. 'We spoke to Jim yesterday about Deacon Blue's plans for the rest of the year, and he encouraged us to continue with love in our hearts and with his full blessing that the shows go ahead, even if it means replacing the irreplaceable James Miller Prime for the time being. 'Together with Jim's family, we want to thank all the nurses, doctors and ICU staff for their ongoing care, professionalism and compassion.'

Musician James Prime Of Deacon Blue Dies After Brief Battle With Cancer
Musician James Prime Of Deacon Blue Dies After Brief Battle With Cancer

News18

time19-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • News18

Musician James Prime Of Deacon Blue Dies After Brief Battle With Cancer

Last Updated: Deacon Blue's James Prime, founding member and keyboardist, has died at 64 after a short battle with cancer. Deacon Blue's James Prime has died following a 'short struggle with cancer". After being rushed to hospital last week and departing the group's upcoming tour, the founding member and keyboardist for the Scottish pop-rock group has passed away on Thursday morning (19.06.25), at the age of 64. A social media statement from the band read: 'We announce with great sadness that our brother, James Prime, passed away this morning after a short struggle with cancer. Thank you so much for the messages of support that you shared over the last two weeks, they meant so much to Jim, his family and us." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deacon Blue (@deaconbluemusic) James was described as being in a 'serious" condition last week. A message from the group on X read: 'Unfortunately he is seriously ill and undergoing care in hospital. We would like you to join us in wishing him well and to share your love with him." Deacon Blue – also comprising Ricky Ross, Lorraine McIntosh, Dougie Vipond, Gregor Philp, Lewis Gordon and Tom Gordon -insisted they were given their bandmate's 'full blessing" to hit the road without him. It continued: 'We spoke to Jim yesterday about Deacon Blue's plans for the rest of the year, and he encouraged us to continue with love in our hearts and with his full blessing that the shows go ahead, even if it means replacing the irreplaceable James Miller Prime for the time being. Together with Jim's family, we want to thank all the nurses, doctors and ICU staff for their ongoing care, professionalism and compassion." James, who was born in Kilmarnock and also worked as a university lecturer, had been with Deacon Blue since its inception in the 1980s. The band is known for their chart-topping hits such as Dignity, Chocolate Girl and Real Gone Kid. The band has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with past members including Graeme Kelling, Ewen Vernal, Mick Slaven, Scott Fraser, Taj Wyzgowski, Ged Grimes and Chris Henderson.' Deacon Blue's 1987 debut album Raintown reached number 14 in the UK Albums Chart. Their 1989 follow-up When the World Knows Your Name hit number one, with its lead single Real Gone Kid nominated for British Single of the Year at the Brit Awards, ultimately losing to Perfect by Fairground Attraction. After a hiatus in 1994, the band reunited in 1999 and have remained active ever since. First Published:

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