Brian Howe, singer for English rock group Bad Company, has died from cardiac arrest. He was 66.
A family member tells TMZ that the supergroup frontman passed away Wednesday at his Florida home. The vocalist, who replaced Paul Rodgers as the band’s lead singer in 1986, was known to have heart issues and had suffered a heart attack in 2017. It’s unclear if he was on his way to the hospital at the time of his death.
In his final tweet, Howe recalled his lifetime accomplishments — and one goal he would sadly never end up fulfilling.
“I’ve done a few things in my life,” he wrote on April 26. “I have sold millions of records and toured the world for the last 35 years but I want to appear on Tv with #RickyGervais who in my opinion is a genius.”
Howe was born in 1953 in Portsmouth, England. He was recruited to join Bad Company after working with American guitarist and current conservative activist Ted Nugent, who was a mentor to Howe. The UK native spent eight years with the group, including during the release of their biggest record, 1990’s “Holy Water.”
In 1994, he left Bad Company, going on to have a solo career — and focusing on his core qualities. “After a decade of touring worldwide, fronting an iconic rock band and recording three acclaimed solo projects, Howe is forging yet another path for himself the old-fashioned way: discipline and hard work,” notes his Facebook page.
He also admitted that he found his move to Florida at odds with his rocker reputation, documenting as much in his extensive social-media bio.
“You might be forgiven for thinking that someone who wrote and sang the hits for one of the biggest bands in the world in the 80s and 90s would more likely be found on a Florida beach rather than huddled in a dark recording studio or traveling from gig to gig, taking his solo show on the road,” it says on Facebook. “But that is the life for Brian Howe.”
