Michael Frederick Box (born 9 June 1947) is an English musician who is the lead guitarist of rock group Uriah Heep, having previously been a member of The Stalkers and Spice, both with original Uriah Heep vocalist

David Byron David Garrick (29 January 1947 – 28 February 1985), better known by his stage name David Byron, was a British singer, who was best known in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist with the rock band Uriah Heep. Byron possessed a powerful oper ...

.Larkin, Colin (2002) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 468 He is the only member from the band's founding in 1969 who is still active with the group, and – following the 2020 deaths of

Lee Kerslake Lee Gary Kerslake (16 April 1947– 19 September 2020) was an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep and for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. Biography Early life a ...

and

Ken Hensley Kenneth William David Hensley (24 August 1945 – 4 November 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, best known for his work with Uriah Heep during the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of Uriah ...

– is also the last surviving member of the group's classic line-up. Uriah heep 01041977 33 300

Biography

Early influences

In 2018 Mick Box said he was influenced by

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

and

Mary Ford Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers; July 7, 1924 – September 30, 1977) was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hi ...

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

Tal Farlow Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist. He was nicknamed "Octopus" because of how his large, quick hands spread over the fretboard. As Steve Rochinski notes, "Of all the guitarists to emerge in th ...

and

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups a ...

. He attributes some of these influences to his first guitar instructor because he was the second guitarist for Django Reinhardt, as well as coming from a jazz background. When he started performing with Uriah Heep, other new bands included

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

, and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Spice

Before establishing Uriah Heep Box's band was called

Spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

. The band performed from 1968 to 1969 with David Byron and Nigel Pegrum Box said they chose that name because they didn't want to get categorised into a narrow genre. "There's lots of spices, and that was our train of thought with the name of the band" said Box in a 2021 interview. After Ken Hensley joined the members of Spice, they became Uriah Heep.

Recent activities

Mick Box blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for preventing a 50th Anniversary Celebration, but was planning on a 52 year Celebration. He said he felt strange being in quarantine, because he was accustomed to being "on the road," and interacting with fans at concerts. He has used the time to compose songs and he produced some videos for the Lockdown Diaries. Box has used his talent to promote the Nightingale Cancer Support Centre.

Discography

With David Byron

*''

Take No Prisoners The phrase no quarter was generally used during military conflict to imply combatants would not be taken prisoner, but killed. According to some modern American dictionaries, a person who is given no quarter is "not treated kindly" or "treated ...

'' – 1975

With Uriah Heep

*'' ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble'' – 1970 *''

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

'' – 1971 *'' Look at Yourself'' – 1971 *'' Demons & Wizards'' – 1972 *'' The Magician's Birthday'' – 1972 *'' Live '73'' – 1973 *'' Sweet Freedom'' – 1973 *'' Wonderworld'' – 1974 *''

Return to Fantasy ''Return to Fantasy'' is the eighth studio album by British rock band Uriah Heep, released on 13 June 1975 in the United Kingdom by Bronze Records. It was the first of the two albums to feature John Wetton as the new bass player, who replaced G ...

'' – 1975 *'' High and Mighty'' – 1976 *''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

''...1977 *''

Innocent Victim ''Innocent Victim'' is the 11th studio album by British hard rock band Uriah Heep (band), Uriah Heep, released in November 1977 by Bronze Records in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the US. Although it did not chart in the US or UK, ''Innoce ...

''...1977 *''

Fallen Angel In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said R ...

'' – 1978 *''

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

'' – 1980 *''

Abominog ''Abominog'' is the 14th studio album by British rock band Uriah Heep, released in March 1982 by Bronze Records in the United Kingdom, and in September 1982 by Mercury Records in the United States. It was their first album without keyboardist K ...

'' – 1982 *''

Head First Head First or Headfirst may refer to: Music * ''Head First'' (The Babys album) (1979) * ''Head First'' (Badfinger album) (recorded 1974, released 2000) * ''Head First'' (Goldfrapp album) (2010), or its title track * ''Head First'' (Uriah Hee ...

'' – 1983 *''

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

'' – 1985 *'' Raging Silence'' – 1989 *'' Different World'' – 1991 *'' Sea of Light'' – 1995 *'' Sonic Origami'' – 1998 *''

Wake the Sleeper ''Wake the Sleeper'' is the 21st studio album by the rock band Uriah Heep, released on 2 June 2008 in Europe and on 26 August 2008 in the United States. The announced September 2007 release was rescheduled (initially to March 2008) as a resul ...

'' – 2008 *''

Celebration – Forty Years of Rock ''Celebration – Forty Years of Rock'' is a greatest hits album by British rock band Uriah Heep. It mainly features rerecorded classics – which, said bassist Trevor Bolder, "chose themselves, really. The likes of 'Sunrise', 'Gypsy' and ' L ...

'' – 2009 *'' Into the Wild'' – 2011 *''

Outsider Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a South Korean film featuring Won Mi-kyung Literature * Outside ...

'' – 2014 *'' Living the Dream'' – 2018

With Iris

*'' Lady in Black'' – 2002

With Spearfish

*''Back for the Future''

References

External links

The Official Website of Mick Box
Uriah Heep (band) members 1947 births Living people English rock guitarists English heavy metal guitarists Lead guitarists People from Walthamstow Musicians from London {{UK-guitarist-stub