Pete Bardens passed away on January 22 following a year-long
battle with cancer.
Bardens was born in Westminster in 1945 and was one of the most respected keyboardists to emerge from the 70's progressive rock scene and a popular solo artist of the 80's and 90's.
Bardens had an illustrious career beginning in London in the 60's when he played in The Blues Messengers with Ray Davies (later of the Kinks), with The Cheynes with Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green, The Shotgun Express with Rod Stewart, and Them with Van Morrison. In the 70's Bardens was a founding member of the popular progressive rock group Camel.
Bardens enjoyed a long and successful solo career spanning from the late 70's through to the present day. He released numerous instrumental and vocal albums and performed live around the US and in Europe. His two albums for the Capitol distributed Cinema label, "Seen One Earth" and
"Speed Of Light" both charted and yielded a top AOR hit and an was the original "Buzz Band" pick at MTV, with "In Dreams." Other albums were released by Miramar/BMG and Sanctuary.
Bardens had recently completed a new record, with production from former bandmate Mick Fleetwood and Denny Somach (who served as executive producer for his two Cinema releases.
He relocated to the US in 1987 and became a well known resident in the Malibu community.
He is survived by his father Dennis and his three children Ben,
Tallulah and Sam.
