IN MEMORY OF JOHN LODGE

As long-serving co-vocalist and bassist with The Moody Blues, John Lodge helped keep the Moodies' flame burning even after the band had stopped touring. His distinctive falsetto harmonies and bass-playing helped shape the band's iconic sound and cement their status. In addition to gigging right up to his unexpected death in October at the age of 82, he also released a handful of solo albums, including his 2023 updated version of Days Of Future Passed, which was praised by critics and fans alike.

- Words: Julian Marzalek

Right to the very end, John Lodge, The Moody Blues' bassist, co-vocalist and songwriter never lost his passion or drive for playing and recording music. “I play music every day,” he told this writer with a palpable enthusiasm just a few days before Christmas 2024. “I’ve loved it since it took hold of me when I was 13. And I love writing songs and discovering something new all the while.”

It was precisely that sense of wonder and exploration, coupled with a technical finesse and melodic flair, that propelled Lodge from his earliest musical beginnings until his final days. And in anchoring The Moody Blues for 50 years, he helped the band become one of prog rock's most pioneering, enduring and biggest-selling forces. His bass-playing was never just about rhythm; it carried a tunefulness and emotion that set him apart from so many of his contemporaries.

Lodge's story began in Erdington, Birmingham, where he was born on July 20, 1943 to working-class parents, Olive and Charles. While there were no instruments, gramophone or sign of Lodge's future talents, his musical curiosity was piqued when his uncle made him a cat's whisker crystal radio just at the moment when electrifying new sounds came sweeping from across the Atlantic.

“My first real musical encounter was rock'n'roll on Radio Luxembourg 208,” he recalled. It was through that crackling static that a lifetime's obsession began as Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis took up residence in the young Lodge's imagination.