The Alarm frontman Mike Peters dies aged 66

Mike Peters, the frontman of Welsh band The Alarm, has died aged 66. The rock star, who was forced to cancel a US tour last year after being diagnosed with fast-growing lymphoma, had been undergoing treatment at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester . His death was announced by a spokesman for Love Hope Strength, the cancer charity he co-founded with his wife Jules, 58.

Peters, who supported U2 and Status Quo on tour, and also played with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, was first diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), a type of blood cancer, more than 30 years ago, aged 36. He underwent numerous drug treatments and rounds of chemotherapy, and also tried experimental therapy to keep his cancer at bay. Last year, five days before he was due to fly to Chicago for a 50-date US tour, he noticed that a lump in his neck had appeared overnight.



Doctors quickly realised the star had developed Richter’s syndrome, where CLL changes into a much more aggressive lymphoma. Peters leaves behind his wife and two sons, Dylan, 20, and Evan, 18. A life of music and charity work He first rose to prominence in the early 1980s with The Alarm, which had hits including Sixty Eight Guns and Strength.

His charity Love Hope Strength has been praised for helping to add more than 250,000 people to stem cell donor registers worldwide via its Get On The List campaigns, often publicised at rock concerts. Born in Prestatyn, North Wales , Peters frequently played in support of causes close to where he lived. Last year, Peters credited his thousands of fans for giving him a boost, saying his diagnosis with fast-growing lymphoma had led to an “incredible” response, with “phenomenal support and prayers from the fans from all directions”.

He added: “I think, with my crazy instinct to try and preserve my life as well as my health, I worked out that I was able to play some British shows in the summer. Luckily for me, they were all at the end of the chemotherapy cycles. “I couldn’t do them with the band and the crew and the tour buses and all that, but I could stand up on the stage on my own with a small backup team, so I wasn’t being exposed to any viruses or conditions that would impact on my health.

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