John Wetton
John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer and songwriter. Although he was left handed he was known as a dexterous right handed bass player and had a booming baritone voice Wetton joined the band Family in 1971 for a short time before joining King Crimson in 1972. After the breakup of King Crimson at the end of 1974, Wetton spent the next seven years as a member of other progressive rock and hard rock bands which included Roxy Music (1974–1975), Uriah Heep (1975–1976), U.K. (1977–1980) and Wishbone Ash (1980–1981).
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Birth name | John Kenneth Wetton |
Born | Willington, Derbyshire, England | 12 June 1949
Origin | Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
Died | 31 January 2017 67) Bournemouth, Dorset, England | (aged
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Years active | 1965–2017 |
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Website | Official website |
In 1981 he co-founded Asia as singer and principal song writer, which was considered a super group. Their debut album "Asia" which was released in 1982 sold 10 million copies worldwide and was listed as Billboard magazine's number one album of 1982. He later formed the duo "Icon" with his Asia bandmate and songwriting partner Geoff Downes and went onto to have a successful solo career.
Wetton died on 24 January 2017.