Friends Pay Tribute To Late WHITE SPIRIT/TANK Drummer
October 10, 2008, 16 years ago
The following story is courtesy of Thecnj.co.uk:
A heavy metal drummer who moved to London with his IRON MAIDEN guitarist friend to form a cult 1970s band died after hitting his head on a pavement while having a fit, an inquest heard this week.
Graeme Crallan – known in the rock fraternity by the affectionate nickname “Crash” – was standing outside his home at the corner of York Way and Wharfdale Road in King’s Cross when a sudden fit took hold of his body.
The tragic episode in July left him “brain stem dead”, according to pathologist Dr Freddie Patel. He was taken to Whittington Hospital in Archway and then transferred to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, where he died on July 27.
Mr. Crallan, 50, formed the rock group WHITE SPIRIT with Janick Gers, a friend from his hometown of Hartlepool who went on to found legendary rock band Iron Maiden.
Mr. Crallan later joined the band TANK but did not enjoy the same success as Mr. Gers and ended up working as a Dial-A-Ride driver and a hospital porter to pay the bills. But, according to friends, he “never totally gave up the dream”.
Read more here.
Photo: Graeme Crallan (on drums) with Janick Gers (on guitar) when White Spirit played the Reading festival in 1980
