Driving to the concert, I received a call with the sad news that GORDON WALLER had died of a heart attack, at the age of 64. We had the privilege of having getting to know Gordon personally, as he had been a Special Guest, by himself, at The FEST numerous times many years ago, and then more recently, in the historic reunion of Peter and Gordon in the past 3 years. We were honored to be able to be a part of that and to see and hear them together again was truly special.
Peter Asher has issued a statement and we wanted to share it with you here, in its entirety.
Gordon played such a significant role in my life that losing him is hard to comprehend – let alone to tolerate.
He was my best friend at school almost half a century ago. He was not only my musical partner but played a key role in my conversion from only a snooty jazz fan to a true rock and roll believer as well. Without Gordon I would never have begun my career in the music business in the first place. Our professional years together in the sixties constitute a major part of my life and I have always treasured them.
We remained good friends (unusual for a duo!) even while we were pursuing entirely separate professional paths and I was so delighted that after a hiatus of almost forty years we ended up singing and performing together again more recently for the sheer exhilarating fun of it. We had a terrific time doing so.
Gordon remains one of my very favourite singers of all time and I am still so proud of the work that we did together. I am just a harmony guy and Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo.
I shall miss him in so many different ways. The idea that I shall never get to sing those songs with him again, that I shall never again be able to get annoyed when he interrupts me on stage or to laugh at his unpredictable sense of humour or even to admire his newest model train or his latest gardening effort is an unthinkable change in my life with which I have not even begun to come to terms.