Barron Knights' Duke dies
Spoof rocker was 66
Duke D'Mond of comedy pop group The Barron Knights, has died at the age of 66.The singer – real name Richard Palmer – died on April 9 following a heart attack, but the news has only just been confirmed.
A message on the Barron Knights website said: ‘He was rushed to a hospital in Oxford with internal bleeding, then went into a coma before having a severe heart attack. He then developed pneumonia and died.
‘All of us Barron Knights are devastated at losing a friend who was a member of the band for 46 years. He had a great singing voice and was very much a part of all our hit records and was a great performer on stage.’
The Barron Knights originally formed in 1959 as a genuine band, but found their forte was parodying other hits. Their first success came in 1964, with Call Up The Groups, a song about bands being conscripted into the Army that reached No 3. They went on to have six more top 20 hits through the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties.
In their heyday The Barron Knights supported The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and are still performing today, although most of the members have been replaced. Duke D'Mond stopped performing with the group four years ago following a fall.
Here they are performing a Christmas medley:
Published: 24 Apr 2009
