Drummer John Morgan dies after contracting the virus during tour

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Drummer of The Wurzels is honored John Morgan, who died at the age of 80.

The older character provided the rhythm to the West’s biggest band ever for over 40 years, after joining the line back in 1981.

Drummer Forest of Dean fell ill with Covid after a massive concert by the Wurzels in Manchester earlier this month, and died surrounded by his family in a hospital in Gloucester on Friday.

Read more: How the Wurzels handled lockdown

The Lydney-born musician, better known as ‘Morgy’, provided backing vocals and rhythm to The Wurzels spanning five decades, joining Pete Budd and Tommy Banner shortly after their brutal successes in the 1970s.

As The Wurzels carved out a long career selling crowd-pleasing concerts across the country, John was a constant behind the drum set through the ’80s, ’90s, and into the 2000s, as the band enjoyed a renaissance in the national music scene with an album of cover releases.

Since then, the band – with John on the drums – has been playing constantly, giving more than 100-150 performances each year.

The forced retirement caused by the shutdown took the band off playing for nearly 18 months, as Pete, Tommy and John turned 80, but they are back on stage with a round of festival recitals this summer, followed by a lengthy tour that takes performances. Everywhere from Manchester and London to Cornwall and Cardiff in fall and winter.

We thought you were indestructible.

Tommy Banner, accordian professor at Wurzels, hailed him as “the oldest drummer in captivity.” “We can’t believe we’ll never see you behind those drums again – we thought you were indestructible,” he said.

“We’ll miss you John, you grumpy old man, with your sharp and curious wit—oh, you were also a great drummer, just like your hero, Charlie Watts.”

Tommy said, “We are all in shock, Morgie had the rudest sense of humor, kindest hearts and all thoughts with his family. The band intends to continue but John will always be remembered and loved by his fans, friends and the band.”

Wurzels has two more shows in the week before Christmas, in Exeter and Somerset this week.

As news of John’s death spread throughout the West Country music scene, greetings began pouring in.

The Wurzels

“We are all saddened to hear of the passing of The Wurzels drummer John Morgan,” said a spokesperson for the Watchet Music Festival, where The Wurzels have been playing regularly.

They added, “John has always been a huge supporter of Watchit Festival, and our thoughts are with his family and other band members. RIP John and thank you for being such a real person on earth, we will miss you so much.”

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