Sixties legend dies

Singer dies just before Hall of Fame induction

29 Feb 08 - Mike Smith of Sixties group The Dave Clark Five has died aged 64 just days before he was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He died on Thursday (28 Feb) from pneumonia at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, according to agent Margo Lewis.

The band’s lead singer and keyboardist had been preparing to travel to New York to be inducted into the American Hall of Fame with his band mates on March 10 but was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit on Wednesday (27 Feb) with a chest infection.

Smith had been in hospital since September 2003 following a spinal cord injury but he was released in December when he moved to a specially-prepared home near the hospital with his wife.

Agent Margo Lewis said: "These last five years were extremely difficult for Mike.

"He was extremely excited and honoured to have been inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame and I am glad that he will be remembered as a 'Hall of Famer', because he was in so many ways"
Agent Margo Lewis

"I am incredibly saddened to lose him, his energy and his humour.

"But I am comforted by the fact that he had the chance to spend his final months and days at home with his loving wife, Charlie, whom he adored, instead of in the hospital. And that he was able to attend a recent concert in London by his good friend, Bruce Springsteen.

"He was extremely excited and honoured to have been inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame and I am glad that he will be remembered as a 'Hall of Famer', because he was in so many ways."

The Dave Clark Five sold over 100 million records and enjoyed 30 hit singles worldwide.

They topped the chart with Glad All Over in 1963 and recorded a total of 23 albums but then broke up in the 1970s.



Kelly Stooke