Killing Joke guitarist Kevin “Geordie” Walker has died at the age of 64, the band confirmed in a statement. Walker died suddenly in the Czech capital, Prague, where he lived. “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,” the band said in a post to social media.
The current Killing Joke lineup comprises Walker’s fellow founding members, vocalist Jaz Coleman, drummer Paul Ferguson and bass player Martin Glover (aka Youth). According to the band’s statement, Walker was surrounded by family at the time of his death. “We are devastated,” they wrote. “Rest In Peace brother.”
Killing Joke – ‘Love Like Blood’
Walker, Coleman, Ferguson and Glover formed Killing Joke in 1979. Walker met Coleman and Ferguson after responding to an ad they’d placed in the music magazine Melody Maker. “We wanted to find two people who had a revolutionary musical style and were open to magical principles,” Coleman told Uncut in 2018.
“I met Jaz and we clicked,” Walker said in the Uncut interview. “I hated everything he listened to, he hated what I listened to, but we both liked fishing so we talked about that for three hours.” In the same article, Ferguson described his first impression of Walker: “He had a ginger shaggy afro, teddy boy jeans and brothel creepers.”
He continued, “I didn’t care what he sounded like, he looked amazing. But then he plugged in and started chugging Alex Harvey riffs. I worshipped Harvey and that was it.”
After recruiting Glover, the quartet got to work on their debut album – the funk- and metal-influenced post-punk classic, Killing Joke, which came out in 1980. Glover stayed with the band only up until their third album, 1982’s Revelations, which was produced by krautrock’s defining producer, Conny Plank. Killing Joke’s biggest success was 1985’s Night Time, which featured their most popular single, ‘Love Like Blood’.
After ten studio albums, Killing Joke broke up in 1996, by which time Glover had rejoined but Ferguson had left. Walker and Coleman got the band back together in 2002, releasing the albums Killing Joke (2003) and Hosannas from the Basements of Hell (2006) before the original lineup reunited in 2008.
Three albums have followed since that time, the latest being 2015’s Pylon. The EP, Lord Of Chaos, came out in 2022 and Killing Joke played a bunch of arena shows around the UK in October 2022. Their most recent live shows occurred in March 2023.
Further Reading
Killing Joke Frontman Jaz Coleman Missing
Jaz Coleman Resurfaces In The Western Sahara Desert
Mars Williams, Saxophonist in The Psychedelic Furs, Has Died
