Mike Peters, the frontman of Welsh post-punk band The Alarm, compared the passion of the Storm-the-Barricades with U2 in the 1980s with the Clarion Call national anthem, such as “Sixty Eight Guns” and “Blaze of Glory.” He was 66 years old and had been fighting cancer for 30 years and was a prominent campaigner for it.
His death was confirmed in a social media post by his wife, Jules Jones Peters.
Peters was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1995, twice diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2005, and again in 2015. Both are in the form of blood cancer. Last year, on the eve of his 50-day US tour, he discovered that he had Richter syndrome, a more aggressive form of lymphoma.
Since the 2000s, Peters has earned his second career as a prominent spokesman in the fight against cancer. He staged concerts at dramatic locations such as Mount Everest and Mount Fuji to help find the Love Hope Strength Foundation to raise funds for cancer research and treatment.
The alarm, which emerged from the underground of British punk in the late 1970s, is known for its rage of justice and electric shock hairstyles, blending the high octane energy of punk with the attacks of a distinctive twin acoustic guitar.
The band got a great boost when they were selected as the opening act for U2's breakout 1983 American Tour, which supports the landmark album “War.” (The Alarm released his debut EP on IRS Records mid-tour.)
Despite the challenge of facing an arena packed with restless crowds as an unknown support law, the alarm made a mark. “Without an introduction, music should be able to stand on its own,” U2 frontman Bono said in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine that year. “And with the alarm, it did.”
The following year, the band released their first album, “Declaration.” He won AirPlay on MTV for “Six2 Eight Guns,” a song inspired by a book about the Glasgow Street Gang set in 1968. He introduced Peters's harsh, breathtaking vocal style, and was plagued by a youthful rebellion.
Despite lyrics that touched on topics like rebel anger and war and unemployment, Peters was not considered an obvious political band like a clash. “Some of them sound like that,” he said in an interview with Creem Magazine in 1983, “They're still songs about people, how people feel, and they're trying to bring people together rather than pulling them apart by making them on their side.”
The alarm grew in the UK and charted 16 top 50 singles over the years. They didn't chase U2 in stardom on the American side of the Atlantic, but their sophomore album “Strength” hit number 39 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and their fourth studio album “Change” was produced by Tony Visconti, known for his work with David Bowie.
Along the way, Peters experienced a share of career highlights, including taking part twice on stage for Dylan's “Knock-in” duet when the band opened for him on the 1988 American Tour.
However, Peters was not interested in the industry's hype or shooting fame. “Some groups want to make it soon,” he said in a 1983 interview with the Albuquerque Tribune. “Well, it's fair enough for them, but we want to support something 10 years from now.”
Michael Leslie Peters was born on February 25, 1959 in Prestatin, a Welsh seaside town, and grew up in nearby Lil. His parents, Robert and Marjorie Peters, owned a women's clothing store.
Like many young Britishers of his time, he was inspired by the Sex Pistols' do-it-yourself spirit, who played in 1976 with his future bandmates Nigel Buckle (who later changed his last name) and Dave Kitchengman (later Sharp) in Chester, England.
“I was like Johnny Rotten and all the other kids that became rock and roll by his boys,” Peters told the Tribune, referring to the Pistols' sneering lead singer. “I looked at him and said, 'Well, I want to do that.' ”
For a short time he formed a punk band called the Toilet. After cycling through various bands his friends involved, he settled on alarms, and Mr. Sharp appeared on Bass on guitar, Twist on Drums, and Eddie Macdonald.
The band was expensive until they broke up in 1991. Four years later, Peters began his long trial with cancer. However, relying on chemotherapy and other treatments, he has continued to return to recording and touring, as a solo act and with a band that includes a band with his wife.
He eventually joined forces with James Chippendale, a Dallas executive who was battling leukemia, to form the strength of hope for love. Peters' help attracted millions of people at charity concerts performed in famous elevated areas, including the top of the Empire State Building.
In the fall of 2007, Peters embarked on a 14-day trek to Mount Everest base camp, along with other cancer survivors, supporters and musicians, and took part in the squeeze Glentillbrook.
In 2017, Peters and his wife embarked on another television documentary, “Mike and Jules: While I Still Have Time.” But what began after watching a year of the Welsh rock star's life was a dramatic turnaround when Peters was diagnosed with breast cancer while shooting. After that, both of these projects became a kind of cancer odyssey.
Mr. Peters became a soldier. In 2021, during the pandemic, he joined another alarm lineup remotely, writing and recording an album entitled “War.” The following year he announced that his chronic lymphocytic leukemia was back and that he needed more chemotherapy.
In addition to his wife, he was survived by his sons Dylan and Evan.
Through Peters' endless health struggles, music remained a unique form of treatment. In a 2022 message posted on the Love Hope Strength site, he detailed his stay in hospital during a recurrence of leukemia, noting that his lungs were expelled with five liters of fluid. But he added, “I've even had a guitar in ward, just in case inspiration hits me!”
