Brian Howe, a former lead singer of the British hard-rock band Bad Company, died after suffering a heart attack in his home in Florida, his management team said Thursday. He was 66.
Paramedics were called to Howe's home in Lake Placid on Wednesday morning, the singer's reps said. They "were able to have a short conversation with him, he slipped away, and they were unable to revive him," according to a statement from Howe's management company.
"We would talk several times a day. To be in Brian's world was challenging, demanding, but he had a heart of solid gold," manager Paul Easton said in a statement. "His visits to the office were at times chaotic, often with his beloved dog Rosie along for the ride."
Bad Company members Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke recruited Howe, who'd worked for years alongside Ted Nugent, in 1986 to replace the band's original singer, Paul Rodgers, who had left the band. Ralphs was a guitarist in Mott the Hoople and Kirke, a drummer, and Rodgers were in Free, so their pedigree as musicians in successful bands earned Bad Company the unofficial title of one rock's original "supergroups."
During Howe's run with the band from 1986 to 1994, Bad Company recorded several popular albums, most notably "Holy Water," which was released in 1990 and sold more than a million copies.
Howe, born in Portsmouth, England, had been on tour with his bandmates Paul Warren, Christopher Turnbow, Miguel Gonzales and Rick Brother and had various other projects in the works before the coronavirus pandemic brought the entertainment world to a stop.
"Anybody else would have been thrilled with being Brian's 'not very good,'" according to Easton. "We had plans that were delayed by the current pandemic ... a new deal with a branding company, photo shoot, new music. ... It wasn't to be."
Howe is survived by a son, two daughters and three grandchildren.
