Bassist-Singer Of The Moody Blues Was 82

John Lodge, singer, songwriter and bass player for the British rock band The Moody Blues for more than 50 years, has died. He was 82.

His family announced his death in a statement today. ‘It is with the deepest sadness that we have to announce that John Lodge, our darling husband, father, grandfather, father-in-law and brother, has been suddenly and unexpectedly taken from us.” The statement did not include a cause of death, but noted, “John peacefully slipped away surrounded by his loved ones and the sounds of the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly.”

Joining the band in 1966, Lodge would go on to write or co-write many of the bands songs, some of which he’d also sing: “Ride My See-Saw”, “I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band)”, “Isn’t Life Strange”, “Isn’t Life Strange,” “Gemini Dream”, and “Steppin in a Slide Zone.” He shared vocal duties with Justin Hayward, who also joined the band in 1966 following the departures of Denny Laine and Clint Warwick and would sing the monster hit “Nights in White Satin” (1967).

Lodge continued with the band until its last tour in 2018. He continued with a solo career.

Born July 20, 1943, in Birmingham, England, Lodge and Hayward helped steer the Moody Blues from its initial British Invasion R&B sound (1965’s “Go Now”) to what would become known as progressive rock. The group went on to have two more U.S. Top 10 singles and three in the UK but were much more successful on the albums charts.

The band was co-founded in ’65 by guitarist Denny Laine, bassist Clint Warwick, drummer Graeme Lodge, keyboardist Mike Pinder and multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas. After failing to land a solid follow-up hit to “Go Now,” Laine and Warwick left, and Lodge and Hayward were recruited in the fall of 1966.

After the chart-smashing “Nights in White Satin,” the band would become a staple of FM progressive rock radio throughout the ’70s and ’80s, and would continue working and touring into the 21st Century. Among the best-known of their 15 albums are “On the Threshold of a Dream,” “To Our Children’s Children’s Children,” “A Question of Balance,” “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour,” “Seventh Sojourn” and 1981’s “Long Distance Voyager.” The band is reported to have sold in excess of 70 million albums.

The Moody Blues were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

The band stopped performing in 2018, and Hayward is the last surviving member of the band’s most successful line-up.

Among Lodge’s solo albums are Blue Jays (1975, with Hayward); Natural Avenue (1977); 10,000 Light Years Ago (2018), Days of Future Passed – My Sojourn (2023). He continued to tour in 2024 and 2025.