Moody Blues founding keyboardist Mike Pinder dies at 82

Mike Pinder, the last surviving original member of the 1960s/70s psychedelic prog rock band The Moody Blues has died aged 82. The pioneering keyboardist/singer credited with helping introduce the mellotron to the rock arena died Wednesday (April 24) at his home in Northern California of unknown causes.

Moody bassist John Lodge shared a statement from Pinder's family on Facebook, in which they wrote, “Michael Thomas Pinter died on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at his home in Northern California, surrounded by his devoted family. Michael's family would like to share with his trusted friends and caring fans that he passed peacefully. His last days were filled with music, surrounded by the love of his family. Michael lived his life with a childlike wonder, walking a deeply introspective path that joined mind and heart.”

He continued, “He created his music and the message he shared with the world from that spiritually grounded place. as he always said, “Keep your head above the clouds, but keep your feet on the ground.” His authentic essence uplifted all who came in contact with him. His lyrics, philosophy and vision of humanity and our place in the world will touch generations to come.”

Born in Erdington, Birmingham, England on December 27, 1941, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Pinder co-founded the band in May 1964 with multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ray Thomas, singer/guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist/ singer. Clint Warwick? Laine and Warwick left the band in 1966 after the release of their 1965 debut album, The Magnificent Moodies, and were replaced by guitarist Justin Hayward and bassist Lodge. Pinter and Lane co-wrote all the original songs Moodieswhich included the band's R&B-influenced smash single, “Go Now.”

The new lineup released one of the landmark early prog rock albums, The days of the future are over, in 1967, where Pinter made his recording debut playing the mellotron, a keyboard that used pre-recorded three-track tapes to reproduce a variety of orchestral sounds and special effects. “The Mellotron allowed me to create my own variations of chord movements. I could play any instrument I wanted to hear in the music. If I heard strings, I could play them with the Mellotron. If I heard cellos, brass, trumpets or piano, I could play them,” Pinter said. Rolling rock in an oral history of the album's hit single, “Nights in White Satin.”

Pinter took lead vocals on the grand, symphonic opener, 'The Day Begins', and is credited with writing 'Dawn: Dawn Is a Feeling' and 'Sunset' from the trippy 'Evening' suite. The album also featured what would become the group's signature single, “Nights in White Satin,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was re-released in 1972.

Pinter's experimentation with the then-new keyboard helped it become a staple of prog and psychedelic recordings by groups such as Yes, Genesis and King Crimson. His explorations continued on Moody's 1968 album In search of the lost chord, another concept LP that explored the concepts of inner exploration and discovery. He contributed vocals to the promotional single “Ride My See-Saw” and is the composer on the soulful psychedelic journey through the universe “The Best Way to Travel”, with the acid lyrics, “Speeding through the universe/ Thinking is the best way to to travel/ And you can fly high like a kite if you want to.” He also wrote the Indian-influenced ender album “Om,” which incorporates Pinter's mellotron, as well as sitar, tambourine, and cello.

The rock band that fully embraced the Woodstock flower power of the late 1960s further explored the deepest recesses of its consciousness in the 1969s On the threshold of a dreamwhich again featured Pinter's vocal contributions and songwriting on four tracks, the incense-infused blues raga “So Deep Within You”, as well as “Have You Heard (Part 1)” (and “Part 2”) and crazy instrument “The Journey”.

The keyboardist would go on to be a key creative force in the band's 1969 moon landing inspired In ours Children's Children Children album, 1970s straight rocker A question of balance — which included the rapid Billboard Hot 100 No. 21 hit “Question” — and 1971's similarly clueless Every good boy deserves grace.

The group's 1972 LP, Seventh Residencefound Pinter blazing a trail with another new instrument, the Chamberlin, another electromechanical keyboard that also used a tape-like device that would later appear on recordings by Stevie Wonder, James Taylor and Edgar Winter.

After a long hiatus, The Moodys returned in 1978 with their ninth album, Octave, on which Pinter traded his mellotron and Chamberlin for a synthesizer on what would be his final studio recording with the band. It featured only one track credited to Pinter, the brooding ballad “One Step Into the Light,” on which he also provides lead vocals.

Before his passing, Pinder the was the last surviving member of the original line-up following the deaths of bassist Warwick in 2004, singer/flautist Thomas in 2018, drummer Edge in 2021 and guitarist Laine in 2023. “Mike, your music it will last forever. Rest in peace on your travels to heaven,” Lodge he wrote on Twitter. The band, including Pinder, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Pinter released his debut solo album, The promiseon the band's label, Threshold, in 1976, followed by a second, Among the starsin 1994 and 1995 A planet with one mind.

See the statement from Pinter's family and listen to some of his contributions to the band below.