‘Seriously ill’ rock legend rushed to hospital as band make heartbreaking show announcement

A ‘seriously ill’ rock legend has been rushed to hospital with the band making a heartbreaking show announcement on Wednesday. 

James Prime, 64, co-founder and keyboardist of Deacon Blue, is currently undergoing care. 

The band, made up of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, James, drummer Dougie Vipond, guitarist Gregor Philp and bassist Lewis Gordon, confirmed that their shows would still go ahead. 

It is unclear why James is in hospital, although he is currently in intensive care.  

In a statement shared to Instagram, they explained: ‘Dear friends, we wanted to share some news with you about our brother, Jim.’ 

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A ‘seriously ill’ rock legend has been rushed to hospital with the band making a heartbreaking show announcement on Wednesday

The band, made up of Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, James, Dougie Vipond, Gregor Philp and Lewis Gordon, confirmed that their shows would still go ahead

The band continued: ‘Unfortunately, he is seriously ill and undergoing care in hospital. We would like you to join us in wishing him well and to share our love with him.

‘We spoke to Jim yesterday about Deacon Blue’s plans for the rest of the year, and he encouraged us to continue with love in our hearts and with his full blessing that the shows go ahead, even if it means replacing the irreplaceable James Miller Prime for the time being.

‘Together with Jim’s family, we want to thank all the nurses, doctors and ICU staff for their ongoing care, professionalism and compassion.

‘With love, Ricky, Lorraine, Dougie, Gregor, Lewis and Tom.’

Deacon Blue are set to head of on their tour, The Great Western Road Trip, in September. 

They are set to play Liverpool Arena on September 19 before rounding off the 15-date run in Glasgow on October 11. 

The tour follows their latest album of the same name which was released back in March alongside a small run of theatre dates.

It marks 40 years since the band first formed and follows their 2021 album, Riding on the Tide of Love.  

In a statement shared to Instagram, they explained: ‘Dear friends, we wanted to share some news with you about our brother’ 

Ricky said in a press release ahead of tour: ‘I love the idea that a circus coming to town is a temporary existence, a little bit of magic suddenly appears in the middle of a town or a village and then it goes away. 

‘It’s very similar to what you do live. The live experience is so ephemeral, at the end of a show people lose all their inhibitions, and then it’s over. You have to be there. That’s what’s magical about it.

‘There will be two different shows, we’re curating a show that changes and evolves, pulling out little surprises every now and again. 

‘The theatres are more intimate and give us a chance to bring out one or two things that we wouldn’t do in the arenas. They give us a chance to play songs from the new album and songs from other albums that we have never played before. 

‘And we have some amazing nights at the big shows in the arenas, we suit the show to the place we’re playing and our mantra is ‘we want people to have the best night of their lives’. Every night has got to be brilliant.’

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