Rock music legend John Wetton sadly passed away in the early hours of this morning, Tuesday, January 31st, 2017, after a long and courageous battle against colon cancer.

John rose to fame with King Crimson in the early 70s during the iconic Red era and later formed the band UK. In the early 1980s he was a founder member of supergroup Asia, which was his biggest commercial success. The band’s 1982 self-titled debut album was the biggest selling album in the world that year and gave fans and mainstream radio the mega-hit “Heat Of The Moment”.

John also enjoyed a successful solo career, including the seminal album Battle Lines, and formed iCon with Asia bandmate Geoff Downes. In 2006 the original lineup of Asia reformed and toured the world several times to promote four new studio albums.

John had been planning to tour with Asia for the band’s forthcoming US arena tour with Journey and following the success of his solo Studio Recordings Anthology, to continue working on the ongoing re-issue programme of his solo albums, via his own Primary Purpose label.

John valued his over 11 years of sobriety and volunteered time in fellowship with other alcoholics to share his experience, strength and hope with them. John is survived by his recently wed wife Lisa and 18 year old son Dylan, brother Robert and mother Peggy.

The very last studio song of John Wetton’s career was the closing track on the most recent and indeed final Asia album Gravitas and included the profound lyrics, “Think the best of me, till we meet again.”

Wetton’s Asia bandmate Carl Palmer has released the following statement: “With the passing of my good friend and musical collaborator, John Wetton, the world loses yet another musical giant. John was a gentle person who created some of the  most lasting melodies and lyrics in modern popular music. As a musician, he was  both brave and innovative, with a voice that took the music of Asia to the top of the charts around the world. His ability to triumph over alcohol abuse made him an inspiration to  many who have also fought that battle.  For those of us who knew him and worked with him, his valiant struggle against cancer was a further inspiration. I will miss his talent, his sense of humor and his infectious smile. May you ride easy, my old friend.”