Moody Blues Drummer, Co-Founder Graeme Edge Dead At 80: 'Very Sad Day'

The Moody Blues' last original member Graeme Edge has passed away. He was 80.

Edge, the drummer and co-founding member of the Moody Blues, died Thursday. His death was announced on the Moody Blues' Facebook Page. No cause of death was revealed.

"It’s a very sad day. Graeme’s sound and personality is present in everything we did together, and thankfully, that will live on," the Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward wrote. "When Graeme told me he was retiring, I knew that without him, it couldn’t be the Moody Blues anymore. And that’s what happened. It’s true to say that he kept the group together throughout all the years because he loved it."

Hayward recalled Edge co-founding the band in the 1960s and how they became the group Edge wanted to be. He also praised Edge for his talent as a poet and drummer.

"He delivered that beautifully and brilliantly while creating an atmosphere and setting that the music would never have achieved without his words. I asked Jeremy Irons to recreate them for our last tours together and it was absolutely magical," he added.

According to Hayward, Edge and his parents were very kind when he joined the group. He added that they had almost nothing in common, but they had fun as they created the best music in their lives.

"Graeme was one of the great characters of the music business and there will never be his like again. My sincerest condolences to his family," he concluded.

John Lodge, the Moody Blues' bassist, took to Twitter to express his grief following Edge's passing.

"'When the White Eagle of the North is flying overhead' …sadly Graeme left us today," he tweeted. "To me, he was the White Eagle of the North with his beautiful poetry, his friendship, his love of life, and his 'unique' style of drumming that was the engine room of the Moody Blues."

Edge was among the original members of the Moody Blues when it was founded in 1964. The band briefly featured future Wings member Denny Laine. Lodge and Hayward only joined the band following Laine's departure in 1966. Edge was the only member of Moody Blues from its entire existence. However, he retired in 2019.

Edge told Rolling Stone that when Laine left, the band almost broke up. They got Lodge as the new lead vocalist and bassist and from there, "we started to reorganize and rethink our direction," Edge said.

The Moody Blues' hit songs include "Your Wildest Dreams" and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere." Their last album, "December," was Christmas-themed and it was released in 2003.