Australian Musician was saddened to hear of the death of singer songwriter Jim Keays this morning. The former lead singer of iconic Australian band The Masters Apprentices had been suffering from Multiple Myeloma for seven years.
The Masters Apprentices had several charting singles in the 60s including Turn Up Your Radio, Because I Love You and Think About Tomorrow Today. The band also included prominent artist manager Glenn Wheatley.
Keays also had success with a solo concept album “The Boy From The Stars’ in 1974 and he toured for many years with the trio Cotton, Keays and Morris. In 2012 he returned to his roots and released Dirty Dirty, a well-received garage rock album.
The Dirty Dirty album was produced under hardship as he was battling the disease, however the amiable Keays was never one to complain.
“I have a naturally positive attitude to things and don’t think about it from day to day,” he told Australian Musician at the time. “I just go about my life as I always did and I think that is the best way around it. I have about half of the songs complied for my next album and I haven’t even released this one yet. I have three quarters of the next book written, my second book. They are not getting rid of my that easy!”
Jim Keays was a legend of the Australian music scene and will be sadly missed. Our thoughts go out to his family