“Lady in Black” singer: Uriah Heep veteran Ken Hensley is dead

Thursday 05 November 2020

Uriah Heep’s song “Lady in Black” is nearly 50 years old. Yet almost all children know him. The song was written and sung by Ken Hensley, although he was not actually the front man of the group. Now the musician has died at the age of 75.

When Uriah Heep was founded in London in 1969, the band had five original members. One of them was multi-instrumentalist Ken Hensley, who was to significantly shape the group’s sound, especially with his keyboard performance.

But Hensley didn’t just push the keys of the band, who, along with fellow artists such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, were one of the pioneers of hard rock. He was also considered the mastermind of the group that wrote most of Uriah Heep’s songs.

One of them was “Lady in Black”, the quintet’s biggest hit, which also took the hit parade in Germany by storm in 1971. In fact, Hensley can even be heard as a singer on the song, although he wasn’t actually the front man of the group, but David Byron. The singer shouldn’t have liked the song very much, which is why he let Hensley take precedence over the microphone.

Peacefully asleep

Hensley was a member of Uriah Heep until 1980. He not only released several solo albums thereafter. As a musician, he also supported various rock groups such as Blackfoot, WASP and Cinderella. The Uriah Heep are still active today. The only founding member left is guitarist Mick Box. Former singer Byron was fired from the band in 1976 due to his excessive alcohol consumption and increased airs and died in 1985 as a result of his addiction.

Ken Hensley also died at the age of 75, as announced by his family. His brother Trevor Hensley announced that the musician fell asleep peacefully on Wednesday.

“His wonderful wife Monica was by his side and comforted him in his last moments with us,” Trevor Hensley wrote on Facebook. “We are all dismayed by this tragic and incredibly unexpected loss,” he added. Ken Hensley will be buried in a private ceremony in Spain, “never forgotten and always in our hearts”.