Brian Howe, former lead singer of U.K. supergroup Bad Company, has died at 66

Brian Howe, a former lead singer of U.K. hard rock band Bad Company, died after suffering a heart attack in Florida, his management team said Thursday.

The performer was 66.

Howe, born in Portsmouth, England, suffered a heart attack inside his Lake Placid, Florida, home on Wednesday morning, the singer’s reps said. While paramedics “were able to have a short conversation with him, he slipped away, and they were unable to revive him,” according to a statement from Howe’s management company.

“We would talk several times a day. To be in Brian’s world was challenging, demanding, but he had a heart of solid gold,” manager Paul Easton said in a statement. “His visits to the office were at times chaotic, often with his beloved dog Rosie along for the ride.”

Bad Company founders Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke recruited Howe, who’d worked for years alongside Ted Nugent, to be their lead vocalist. Ralphs was a guitarist from Mott the Hoople and Kirke the drummer from Free, their pedigree as musicians from successful bands earning Bad Company the unofficial title of “supergroup.”

During Howe’s run with the famed group between 1986 and 1994, Bad Company recorded several popular albums, most notably “Holy Water,” which was released in 1990 and went platinum in 1991.

Howe had been on tour with his bandmates Paul Warren, Christopher Turnbow, Miguel Gonzales and Rick Brother and had various other projects in the works before the coronavirus pandemic brought the entertainment world to a stop.

“Anybody else would have been thrilled with being Brian’s ‘not very good,'” according to Easton. “We had plans that were delayed by the current pandemic … a new deal with a branding company, photo shoot, new music … it wasn’t to be.”

Howe is survived by a son, two daughters and three grandchildren.

source: nbcnews.com