David Longdon (17 June 1965 – 20 November 2021) was a British

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

and singer, who was best known as the lead vocalist and co-songwriter of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band

Big Big Train Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. The current line-up includes band founder Gregory Spawton (bass, guitars and keyboards), along with Nick D'Virgilio (drums, guitars and keyboards) and Rikard Sj ...

. Besides singing, Longdon played flute, keyboards, acoustic and

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

6 & 12 string guitars, bass, mandolin, lute, banjo, accordion,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

, psaltry,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

and glockenspiel.

Early life and career

Longdon was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, England, on 17 June 1965. He began writing music at age nine after discovering

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

. He began his career as the lead singer of the band The Gift Horse. Longdon was one of those who auditioned as lead singer of rock band Genesis in 1996, following the departure of Phil Collins. He auditioned during the making of ''

Calling All Stations ''...Calling All Stations...'' is the fifteenth and final studio album by English rock band Genesis. It was released 1 September 1997 by Virgin Records, and is their only album featuring Scottish singer Ray Wilson as frontman following the depar ...

'' (1997), but the role was given to Scottish singer Ray Wilson. He joined Big Big Train in 2009, and performed on numerous instruments in addition to his role as the lead singer beginning with the album '' The Underfall Yard'' in 2010.

Personal life

Longdon had a partner, Sarah Ewing. He had two daughters, Amelia and Eloise. He died on 20 November 2021, in a Nottingham hospital, following a traumatic fall at his home early in the previous morning.

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

described Longdon as "a lovely guy

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

a wonderful voice. He sounded fabulous singing on the vocal version of ackett’s song'Spectral Mornings'."

Neal Morse Neal Morse (born August 2, 1960) is an American singer, musician and composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful. ...

and Geoff Downes also paid respects following his death.

Discography

With
Big Big Train Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. The current line-up includes band founder Gregory Spawton (bass, guitars and keyboards), along with Nick D'Virgilio (drums, guitars and keyboards) and Rikard Sj ...

;Albums * '' The Underfall Yard'' (2009) * '' English Electric Part One'' (2012) * '' English Electric Part Two'' (2013) * ''

Folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

'' (2016) * ''

Grimspound Grimspound is a late Bronze Age settlement, situated on Dartmoor in Devon, England. It consists of a set of 24 hut circles surrounded by a low stone wall. The name was first recorded by the Reverend Richard Polwhele in 1797; it was probably ...

'' (2017) * '' The Second Brightest Star'' (2017) * ''

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

'' (2019) * '' Common Ground'' (2021) * ''Welcome to the Planet'' (2022) ;EPs * '' Far Skies Deep Time'' (2010) * '' Make Some Noise'' (2013) * ''

Wassail Wassail (, , most likely from Old Norse ''"ves heill"'') is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation ei ...

'' (2015)

Solo albums

*''Wild River'' (2004) *''Door One'' (2022)

With
Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

* ''Jackie Girl'' (1996) * ''Azure'' (1998) * ''A Kiss in the Funhouse'' (1999) * ''My Favourite Part of You'' (2003) * ''The Wonder of it All'' (2004) * ''Live'' (2007)

With Martin Orford

* ''The Old Road'' (songs "Ray of Hope" "Endgame") (2008)

With
The Tangent The Tangent is a progressive rock group formed in 2002. History Formation The band was formed in 2002 by Parallel or 90 Degrees keyboardists Andy Tillison and Sam Baine and multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning; The Flower Kings' guitarist Roin ...

* ''Le Sacre du Travail'' (2013) * ''L'Etagère du Travail'' (2013)

With Dave Kerzner

* ''

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

'' (song "New World") (2014)

With The Charlatans

* '' Modern Nature'' (song "Walk with Me") (2015)

With
Judy Dyble Judith Aileen Dyble (pronounced ''Die-bull''; 13 February 1949 – 12 July 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, most notable for being a vocalist and a founding member of Fairport Convention and Trader Horne. In addition, she and Ian McDona ...

* ''Between a Breath and a Breath'' (2020)

With Downes Braide Association

* ''Live in England'' (2019) * ''Halcyon Hymns'' (2021)

Other projects

* ''Spectral Mornings'' (lyrics, flute and vocals) (2015) – along with

Nick Beggs Nicholas Beggs (born 15 December 1961Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 270-271) is an English musician, noted for playing the bass guitar and the Chapman Stick; he is a member of the Mute Go ...

, Rob Reed,

Nick D'Virgilio Nicholas D'Virgilio (born November 12, 1968), often referred to as NDV, is an American drummer, singer and guitarist, best known as a member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil Col ...

, Christina Booth and

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Longdon, David 1965 births 2021 deaths 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians Accidental deaths in England British multi-instrumentalists British rock singers Musicians from Nottingham The Tangent members