Geordie Walker — the influential guitarist for English post-punk band Killing Joke — has died. He was 64.
The band confirmed the news on Instagram yesterday (November 26), writing, "It is with extreme sadness we confirm that at 6:30am on 26th November 2023 in Prague, Killing Joke's legendary guitarist Kevin 'Geordie' Walker passed away after suffering a stroke, he was surrounded by family. We are devastated. Rest in Peace brother."
UPDATE (11/27, 1:14 p.m. ET): Walker's longtime bandmate, Martin "Youth" Glover has also eulogized him, writing on Instagram:
Still in shock and hard to believe he is no longer with us.
Always seemed indestructible to me. Bullets bounced off him. He was truly destined to be. No man was cooler than Geordie, one of the very best and most influential guitarists ever.
He was like Lee Van Cleef meets Terry Thomas via Noel Coward. Very charming, inscrutable and gracious, with a gentle effortless touch (both on the guitar and making you feel welcome) — that is, when he wasn't shredding you with his razor sharp articulate shrapnel. He was a virtuoso gunslinger, both with his music and verbosity. He wouldn't hesitate to throw his flicknife into the mixing desk and demand a two bar count, not four, for his drop in, which always managed to focus the engineers attention!
He understood that the chemistry was the rub and that's actually where the magic and soul was ...in the conflict. He was my teacher, partner and at times a terrifying foe. Eternally grateful for the stars colliding that brought our fates together. He is now flying high with The Valkyrie's, on his way to the halls of Valhalla, where his seat at the table of legends is most certainly assured.
He defined a generation or three with his genius. I am personally honoured and privileged to have served with him and share a vision with him of what the band could become and then see it go way way beyond that and what any of us could have imagined. Thinking of his family, mother and loved ones, band mates, all the fans, gatherers and many musicians he has influenced with his visionary playing and writing.
Honour The Fire
KJ4ever
Born in Durham in 1958, Walker moved to London to study architecture and became Killing Joke's guitarist in 1979, responding to an advertisement placed by singer Jaz Coleman. (Walker and Coleman would become the group's two core members, consistently playing with the band up until Walker's death.) They released their debut EP, Turn to Red, later that year and their self-titled full-length in 1980.
Killing Joke went on to release 14 more studio albums, the latest being 2015's Pylon. More recently, they released the Lord of the Chaos EP last year. Dave Grohl even felt obligated to play drums on the band's second self-titled album in 2003, with Nirvana having cribbed the opening riff of Killing Joke's "Eighties" for "Come as You Are." Metallica and Soundgarden are among the other acts that have cited them as influences.
The band confirmed the news on Instagram yesterday (November 26), writing, "It is with extreme sadness we confirm that at 6:30am on 26th November 2023 in Prague, Killing Joke's legendary guitarist Kevin 'Geordie' Walker passed away after suffering a stroke, he was surrounded by family. We are devastated. Rest in Peace brother."
UPDATE (11/27, 1:14 p.m. ET): Walker's longtime bandmate, Martin "Youth" Glover has also eulogized him, writing on Instagram:
Still in shock and hard to believe he is no longer with us.
Always seemed indestructible to me. Bullets bounced off him. He was truly destined to be. No man was cooler than Geordie, one of the very best and most influential guitarists ever.
He was like Lee Van Cleef meets Terry Thomas via Noel Coward. Very charming, inscrutable and gracious, with a gentle effortless touch (both on the guitar and making you feel welcome) — that is, when he wasn't shredding you with his razor sharp articulate shrapnel. He was a virtuoso gunslinger, both with his music and verbosity. He wouldn't hesitate to throw his flicknife into the mixing desk and demand a two bar count, not four, for his drop in, which always managed to focus the engineers attention!
He understood that the chemistry was the rub and that's actually where the magic and soul was ...in the conflict. He was my teacher, partner and at times a terrifying foe. Eternally grateful for the stars colliding that brought our fates together. He is now flying high with The Valkyrie's, on his way to the halls of Valhalla, where his seat at the table of legends is most certainly assured.
He defined a generation or three with his genius. I am personally honoured and privileged to have served with him and share a vision with him of what the band could become and then see it go way way beyond that and what any of us could have imagined. Thinking of his family, mother and loved ones, band mates, all the fans, gatherers and many musicians he has influenced with his visionary playing and writing.
Honour The Fire
KJ4ever
Born in Durham in 1958, Walker moved to London to study architecture and became Killing Joke's guitarist in 1979, responding to an advertisement placed by singer Jaz Coleman. (Walker and Coleman would become the group's two core members, consistently playing with the band up until Walker's death.) They released their debut EP, Turn to Red, later that year and their self-titled full-length in 1980.
Killing Joke went on to release 14 more studio albums, the latest being 2015's Pylon. More recently, they released the Lord of the Chaos EP last year. Dave Grohl even felt obligated to play drums on the band's second self-titled album in 2003, with Nirvana having cribbed the opening riff of Killing Joke's "Eighties" for "Come as You Are." Metallica and Soundgarden are among the other acts that have cited them as influences.