Music legend Gary Stevenson has sadly died just days after planning his next musical tour with hit 1990s pop star Peter Cox. On Thursday (April 2), the Go West frontman took to Instagram to announce the sad passing of his "dear friend and musical collaborator" online. Sharing a sweet with his arm wrapped around his friend, he penned: "Yesterday we lost this guy - Gary Stevenson, my dear friend and musical collaborator of over 40 years.
"We had a great day together on Monday (March 30), running through the content for my forthcoming spoken word tour and reliving many wonderful shared moments. Tons of laughs, as always with Gary. Tuesday (March 31), he was gone. I can't believe it. Thanks for everything, mate. I will miss you [blue heart emoji]."
It didn't take long before fans flocked to the comments to pass on their sympathies online. One user penned: "Really sorry to hear that, Pete, sending love [heart emoji]", as another agreed: "Sending condolences, Peter. Very sad to hear."
A third chimed in with: "Oh Pete, I'm so sorry to hear this. Sending you much love to his family", as a fourth echoed: "OMG I am so, so sorry. What a terrible shock [five heart emojis]."
Gary started playing the guitar at just 13 years old, and by the age of 16, he was playing in various bands after being introduced to a "sound on sound" tape recorder. It didn't take long before he was producing and recording his own music during what he described as his "bedroom period".
In 1979, he joined ABC Music in Addlestone, Surrey as a guitar demonstrator. It was here that he rubbed shoulders with many established and up-and-coming artists and musicians. He went on to set up an 8-track recording studio in West London, where he recorded with his band Radar and various selected other artists.
In 1983, Radar were signed to Atlantic Records, and Gary's production career began to flourish. Later that year, he produced a duo called Go West, which became a huge hit with music buffs. This led to the group being signed to Chrysalis Records whilst Atlantic encouraged Gary to produce Go West to give his own band exposure.
In 1985, Go West won the Best Newcomers award. Gary then moved to the Isle of Man in 1986, where he set up The 'Old Schoolhouse recording studio and continued to work with prominent artists of the time.
He then returned to Blighty in 1993 to the small village of Aynho in Oxfordshire and built a new studio, currently known as Stevensonics. ~During Gary's career, he has produced albums & soundtracks with artists including Rick Astley, ABC, Go West, Tony Hadley, Bros, and Jane McDonald.
