The Moody Blues Longtime Bassist, Singer And Songwriter Was 82

John Lodge, singer, songwriter and bass player for the British rock band The Moody Blues for more than 50 years, has died. He was 82.

His family announced his death in a statement today, saying: “It is with the deepest sadness that we have to announce that John Lodge, our darling husband, father, grandfather, father-in-law and brother, has been suddenly and unexpectedly taken from us.” The statement did not include a cause of death, but noted, “John peacefully slipped away surrounded by his loved ones and the sounds of the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly.”

Joining the band in 1966, Lodge would go on to write or co-write many of his songs, some of which he’d also sing: “Ride My See-Saw,” “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band),” “Isn’t Life Strange,” “The Voice,” “Gemini Dream” and “Steppin’ in a Slide Zone.” He shared vocal duties with Justin Hayward, who also joined the band in 1966 following the departures of Denny Laine and Clint Warwick and would sing the monster hit “Nights in White Satin” (1967).

Lodge continued with the band until its last tour in 2018. He continued with a solo career.

Born on July 20, 1943, in Birmingham, England, Lodge and Hayward helped steer the Moody Blues from its initial British Invasion R&B sound (1965’s transatlantic hit “Go Now”) to what would become known as progressive rock. The group went on to have two more US Top 10 singles and three in the UK but were much more successful on the album charts.

The Moody Blues was co-founded in ’65 by guitarist Laine, bassist Warwick, drummer Graeme Edge, keyboardist Mike Pinder and multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas. After failing to land a solid follow-up hit to “Go Now,” Laine and Warwick left, and Lodge and Hayward were recruited in the fall of 1966. Laine would go on to co-found Wings with Paul and Linda McCartney.

After the chart-smashing “Nights in White Satin,” the band would become a staple of FM progressive rock radio throughout the ’70s and ’80s, and would continue working and touring into the 21st century. Among the best-known of their 16 albums are On the Threshold of a Dream, To Our Children’s Children’s Children, A Question of Balance, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, Seventh Sojourn and 1981’s Long Distance Voyager.

Stateside, the group rattled off a dozen Top 40 albums in a row from 1966-83. Six went Top 10, five went platinum, and Seventh Sojourn and Long Distance Voyager hit no. 1 on the Billboard 200 amid the era’s boom for ’60s rock acts. The band was even more successful in the UK, where it had six consecutive Top 5 LPs and nine Top 10s, four of which topped the album chart.

Among the band’s other classic tracks are “Question,” “Forever Afternoon” (aka “Tuesday Afternoon”) and “The Story in Your Eyes” — all of which remain staples of classic rock radio alongside “Nights in White Satin,” “Ride My See-Saw,” “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)” and “The Voice,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1981.

The Moody Blues are reported to have sold in excess of 70 million albums and were inducted by Ann Wilson of Heart into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

The band stopped performing in 2018, and Hayward is the last surviving member of the band’s most successful lineup. Pinder died in 2024, Laine passed in 2023 and Edge died in 2021.

Among Lodge’s solo albums are Blue Jays (1975, with Hayward), Natural Avenue (1977), 10,000 Light Years Ago (2018) and Days of Future Passed – My Sojourn (2023). Earlier this year he released the EP Love Conquers All. He continued to tour in 2024 and 2025.

Lodge is survived by wife Kirsten, daughter Emily, son Kristian and other extended family members.

Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.

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