Denny Laine of Wings, Moody Blues, Dies at 79

Denny Laine, the singer-guitarist famous for co-founding the Moody Blues and for playing with Paul McCartney & Wings, has died at the age of 79.

"I was at his bedside holding his hand as I played his favorite Christmas songs for him," Laine's wife, Elizabeth Hines, wrote in an announcement on Facebook. "He's been singing Christmas songs the past few weeks and I continued to play Christmas songs while he's been in ICU on a ventilator this past week."

Laine, who was born Brian Frederick Hines, was born in Birmingham, England, in 1944. He started his first band as a teenager with two future members of Electric Light Orchestra before joining with other Birmingham musicians to form the Moody Blues.

"We started out a little bit like bands in London — the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, all those people, Jeff Beck. We were all into the blues," Laine told the Austin Chronicle in 2018. "The Moody Blues and the Spencer Davis Group were the only blues bands that came from Birmingham to London and started being a part of that scene. So we were listening to old blues and eventually got a hit with 'Go Now,' which is basically a gospel-style song."

Laine later joined Paul McCartney to form the band Wings, having met him after the Moody Blues opened for the Beatles on their second tour.

In her Facebook post, Hines explained that Laine passed away after fighting an "unpredictable" and "aggressive" lung disease. She also thanked his fans for their love and support.

"My world will never be the same. Denny was an amazingly wonderful person, so loving and sweet to me. He made my days colorful, fun, and full of life — just like him," Hines wrote. "Thank you sweetie for loving me, for all the laughter, friendship, fun and for asking me to be your wife. I will love you forever."