Fritz Gerald McIntyre (2 September 1958 – 23 August 2021) was a British musician, most famous for his tenure as keyboard player in the original line-up of

Simply Red Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. Since the ...

Early life

McIntyre was born in Birmingham in 1958. His father was not only a church pastor, but also a choirmaster and gifted musician. As a boy he learnt a lot about music through him, and also learned trumpet and double bass at school, to accompany his self-taught skills in piano and guitar. The family moved to Canada, although McIntyre returned to Manchester in his twenties, hoping for a career in music.

Career

McIntyre successfully auditioned for Simply Red in 1984. He co-wrote many of Simply Red's songs with frontman

Mick Hucknall Michael James Hucknall (born 8 June 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. Hucknall achieved international fame in the 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter of the soul-influenced pop band Simply Red, with whom he enjoyed a 25-year career ...

and sang background vocals; he also sang lead vocals on the song "Wonderland" from the ''

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

'' album. He was a founder member of the band, and played from their debut album ''

Picture Book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

'' in 1985 until their 1995 album ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

''. He was the last of the founder members to quit the band, though with their growing success, he saw decisions being made on the "big bucks" rather than "artistic progress and merit". The former camaraderie had gone, and so he decided he'd had enough. After leaving Simply Red, McIntyre subsequently released an eponymous debut solo album. He then moved to

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada where he released a

Christian worship In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is ("to worship") which means to bow down to God or kings. Throughout most ...

album ''First Fruits''. He resided in the United States where he was the music director of a large

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

church. McIntyre died on 23 August 2021, at the age of 62.Fritz McIntyre Times obituary
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References

External links

* * 1958 births 2021 deaths Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands 20th-century Black British male singers English keyboardists Simply Red members British people of Jamaican descent 20th-century Black Canadian male singers British expatriates in Canada British expatriates in the United States {{UK-keyboardist-stub