Welsh rock star Mike Peters loses cancer battle and dies aged 66
Welsh rock star Mike Peters loses cancer battle and dies aged 66
Welsh rock star and frontman of The Alarm has died aged 66, his band has confirmed.
Mike Peters performing in London
(Image: PA )
Welsh music icon Mike Peters MBE, the frontman of popular rock band The Alarm, has died today, April 25, aged 66 following a 30-year-long battle with cancer, his band has confirmed.
The band was formed in 1981 in Rhyl, Denbighshire, and had a top 20 hit, Sixty Eight Guns, just two years later.
Peters lived with blood cancer for 30 years, following his diagnosis of lymphoma in 1995, and later having chronic lymphocytic leukaemia twice.
The rock star was forced to cancel a US tour last year after being diagnosed with fast-growing lymphoma, which he had been undergoing treatment for at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester. He was awarded an MBE in 2019 for his services to cancer care.
He was born in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, and lived in Dyserth with his wife of 39 years, Jules, who had fought her own cancer battle - and their sons Dylan, 20 and Evan, 18.
Alongside his wife, he co-founded Love Hope Strength, a cancer charity to encourage action around stem cell donation.
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Peters - who had worked in the computer department for Kwik Save supermarket - had started a band The Toilets in Rhyl in 1977, after seeing the Sex Pistols play in Chester.
After various changes of line-up, notably the introduction of guitarist Dave Sharp, and changes of name, The Alarm played their first gig in Prestatyn in 1981.
They would go on to sell an estimated five million records and also become the first Welsh musicians since Tom Jones and Bonnie Tyler to break into America.
At age 36, Mike Peters was first diagnosed with the blood cancer chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). He underwent numerous drug treatments and rounds of chemotherapy, and had tried experimental therapy to keep his cancer at bay.
In 2024, just days before he was supposed to tour America, he noticed a new lump in his neck which doctors soon diagnosed as Richter's syndrome, where CLL changes into a much more aggressive lymphoma.
After his diagnosis, during an interview with the PA news agency, Peters credited his thousands of fans with giving him a boost, saying his diagnosis was met with 'phenomenal support and prayers from the fans from all directions'.
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In 2018, he told Guitar World magazine that his "simple message" was "to stay alive and appreciate every second you've got".
"Live right up to the last breath and stay positive about the world, your family and the environment you live in."
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