The sax player and songwriter has passed away after a ‘long and heroic battle with cancer’
UB40’s saxophonist and songwriter Brian Travers has passed away aged 62. Travers had been fighting a cancer diagnosis for the past few years and sadly passed away yesterday evening surrounded by his family.
The band who are undoubtedly best known for their version of ‘Red Red Wine’ posted this statement from the Twitter page this morning. They have asked that people respect the family’s privacy at this time.
Our thoughts are with Brian’s wife Lesley, his daughter Lisa and son Jamie. We are all devastated by this news and ask that you respect the family’s need for privacy at this time. pic.twitter.com/grpGUkyYFH
— UB40 (@UB40OFFICIAL) August 23, 2021
The Birmingham-born and bred Travers suffered a seizure back in February 2019 and only found out about his underlying illness after tests weeks later. Doctors found a tumour on the back of his head and had it removed a month later.
He went on to have a total of two tumours removed from his frontal cortex around the same time his bandmates were setting off on UB40’s 40th-anniversary tour. As one of the founding members, he had been rehearsing for the momentous occasion until he fell ill again.
Travers’ last performance with the band was in December of that year at Arena Birmingham. The original line-up remained the same for nearly three decades until January 2008, when Ali Campbell left the band.
In June this year, his brother (one of three) and UB40 frontman Duncan also announced his retirement from music due to ill health, being replaced by Kioko musician, Matt Doyle, as the band’s lead singer.
We’ll certainly be belting out ‘Falling in Love With You’ and playing the air-sax in his honour tonight.
Rest in peace.
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