Denny Laine, the first frontman of The Moody Blues and co-founder of Wings with Paul McCartney, died Tuesday following a battle with interstitial lung disease. He was 79. “I was at his bedside, holding his hand as I played his favorite Christmas songs for him… My world will never be the same,” his wife, Elizabeth Hines, wrote on Instagram. McCartney also paid tribute to the music artist, saying, “Peace and love Denny. It was a pleasure to know you.” According to Rolling Stone, Laine famously sang on the Moody Blues’ 1964 cover of the soul song “Go Now,” which reached No. 1 in England. He later left the band, forming Wings in 1971 with Paul and Linda McCartney and co-writing the UK chart-topper “Mull of Kintyre.” In an interview with Billboardpublished in May 2023, Laine said, “Me and Paul, we had the same influences musically and had known each other since the ’60s… It was easy to get a good groove on each other’s songs.” Laine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Moody Blues in 2018.
