City-based musician Mick Abrahams - an original member of the band Jethro Tull - has passed away. He was 82-years-old.
In a post on the official Jethro Tull facebook page, frontman Ian Anderson said: "It is with great sadness that we learned yesterday of the passing of Jethro Tull founding member Mick Abrahams. Mick was vitally important to the early Tull formation out of the ashes of The John Evan Band and McGregor’s Engine, the blues band he formed with Clive Bunker in the Luton/Dunstable area.
He added: "We all offer our condolences to Mick's family and close friends, who can feel justifiably proud of his achievements and musical legacy."
After he left Jethro Tull, Mick went on to achieve further success with his band, Blodwyn Pig.
One of the tracks he penned for that group in 1969, Dear Jill, enjoyed a major resurgence when it featured on the soundtrack to the box office smash Almost Famous in 2000.
Speaking in the MiltonKeynesWiredForSound book, Mick said: "I've been assured that it was actually director Cameron Crowe's idea to use the track - he worked for Rolling Stone magazine and had covered Blodwyn Pig in the past, so he must have had the track in his vaults!"
