Legendary guitarist and folk icon Wizz Jones has died. He had been in poor health for a while and passed away on Sunday morning (April 27th) at Trinity Hospice, two days after his 86th birthday.
His son, Simeon, shared the following message on his dad’s Facebook page along with a lovely recording from his final gig:
With an extremely heavy heart, I’m letting you all know that my beloved father, the great Wizz Jones, passed away early this morning, two days after his 86th birthday.
His loss has left a huge hole in the lives of our family and has robbed the music world of one of its precious treasures.
His health declined rapidly this year and we thank Trinity Hospice for making his last few days as comfortable as possible.
Always a humble man, these were his closing words at the end of his last ever gig earlier this year, February 28th 2025:
“Thanks to all the people – all over the world in fact – that heard my songs and my guitar playing, and came to my gigs for all those years. Thank you very much.”
Here’s a song from that gig, written by his life-long dear friend Alan Tunbridge.
Wizz was worried about disappointing the audience with his now weak singing voice, but even more worried about letting them down by not showing up…
Spoiler alert – it’s a bit of a tear-jerker.
I hope his wonderful music will live on and continue to make the world a richer place.
Thank you for all the love you’ve given him through the years.
– Simeon
Here’s a great interview with Wizz by 2 Seas Studio Sessions. Recorded in 2007, Wizz recalls a number of highlights (and there were many) including, among other things, how he was invited to the US by Thurston Moore to play with Sonic Youth.
Wizz released a duo album with his pal, Ralph McTell in 2017 called About Time Too which Glenn Kimpton reiewed here. Here are the two legends, as humble as ever, chatting:
Our thoughts are with Wizz’s family at this incredibly sad time.
Wizz Jones (25 April 1939 – 27 April 2025)
Wizz and Simeon performing ‘When I Leave Berlin’.