LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — In the wake of the sudden death of guitarist and keyboardist Paul Raymond, British progressive rock band UFO announced they plan to continue with their “Last Orders” tour.
In a post on their Facebook page, a spokesperson for the band said that Neil Carter will play the keyboards, guitar, and vocals for the remaining dates of the tour.
“On April 13th, 2019, the UFO family got the tragic news that our bandmate Paul Raymond had died of a heart attack. It had been just a week since we finished the first leg of our “Last Orders Tour” in the UK. While mourning his loss, sadly we also had to face the reality of what to do with the band. We feel moving forward with the tour is the right thing to do. We all know this is what Paul would have wanted us to do. We are therefore very pleased to announce that our friend and former bandmate Neil Carter has agreed to join us again and take over the keyboards/guitar and vocals slot for the remainder of the tour,” the band’s rep wrote.
“Neil was already part of the family between 1981 and 1983, playing on the albums “The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent”, “Mechanix” and “Making Contact”. Before he joined UFO he was in Wild Horses, later he continued his career with Gary Moore. Together with Neil, we will bring our 2019 LAST ORDERS TOUR to a close. We want to make sure that all our amazing fans get a fantastic experience out of it one more time,” the rep added.
Raymond died on April 13th after suffering from a heart attack. The band is currently lined up for the start of their European tour, which starts at MusikZentrum in Hanover, Germany on June 7th and wraps on August 3rd at Parkbuhne in Leipzig, Germany.
In October, UFO will head across the Atlantic for the North American leg of their tour with Blue Oyster Cult and Armored Saint, starting at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Oct. 9th and concluding at the Wolf’s Den at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Oakdale CT on Nov. 2nd.
The tour is something of a farewell run for the band and frontman Phil Mogg has already announced that he’s planning to step back from touring at the conclusion of the run.
“I’ve considered stepping down at the end of UFO’s previous two tours,” Mogg said in a Facebook statement last year. “I don’t want to call this a farewell tour as I hate that word, but next year’s gigs will represent my final tap-dancing appearances with the band.”
