Jon Lukas (11 September 1948 – 11 June 2021), known as Woodenman, was a Maltese musician from

Paola, Malta Paola ( mt, Raħal Ġdid, it, Casal Nuovo, both meaning "New Town") is a town in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with 8,706 inhabitants as of 2019. The town is a commercial centre in the Southern Harbour area of Malta, about 5 km from th ...

. He was the first solo artist in Maltese music history to achieve successful foreign pop chart placements in a number of non-native countries and to obtain a major global record company deal.

Career

Jon’s record “Can’t Afford To Lose”, composed by Gary Benson, released in 1970, became an international hit. “Apart from making it to the Top 40 charts in some European territories, “Can't Afford To Lose” occupied the top place in the pop charts in Lebanon for a full month, holding back The Beatles' “

The Long and Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album '' Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beatl ...

” from reaching the No.1 spot. In 1993, Lukas, accompanied by Marita, placed second in that year's

Malta Song Festival Although Malta is a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea with a small population, it is nonetheless rich in its history and its culture. When in the 1950s, in nearby Italy the San Remo Festival, and later in Switzerland, the Eurovi ...

with his own composition “Żommni u Għannaqni”. This was the first time that Lukas sang in his native Maltese language. The English version of this song, entitled “The Love We Share”, was produced by Indian-British music producer

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1944) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro d ...

. In 1998, Jon formed the band “Woodenman”. They recorded an album which topped the “

Peoplesound PeopleSound was a British audio streaming platform founded on 22 June 1999 by Ernesto Schmitt. Going live in October 1999, it was the first European music streaming platform and the most visited. At peak, it was amongst the top ten most visite ...

” charts throughout August 1999”. They had gigs in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

. When they disbanded, Lukas incorporated the band's name and became known as Jon Lukas Woodenman. On 15 April 2009, Lukas started off a radio programme entitled “Woodenman’s Jukebox” on Malta’s One Radio. This programme is still being transmitted on U.K.'s Channel Radio. In the summer of 2008,

Marc Storace Marc Storace (''Sto-rah-che'') (born 7 October 1951) is a Maltese born rock vocalist. His career in music started in the 1960s. He is most noted for his position as frontman, lead singer and songwriter of Swiss hard rock band Krokus from 1980. B ...

of Krokus paid tribute to Lukas' 'Can't Afford to Lose'. During his concert, on the island of Gozo, Lukas surprised the audience as he emerged to sing the last half of the song in duet with Storace. After a long illness, Jon died on 11 June 2021. Jon Lukas, singer of hit song ‘Can’t Afford to Lose’ dies aged 72. The Times 11 June 2021 On-Line: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/jon-lukas-singer-of-hit-song-cant-afford-to-lose-dies-aged-72.878525 Retrieved 14 June 2021

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lukas, Jon 20th-century Maltese male singers 20th-century Maltese singers Maltese pop singers 1948 births 2021 deaths People from Paola, Malta 21st-century Maltese male singers 21st-century Maltese singers