Denise Johnson death: Singer with Primal Scream dies aged 56
Singer was planning to release her debut solo album later this year
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Your support makes all the difference.Denise Johnson, the singer best-known for her performances on Primal Scream’s 1991 album Screamadelica, has died aged 56.
A friend of Johnson’s confirmed the news on Twitter. The cause of her death has not been disclosed.
Johnson performed with Primal Scream between 1990 to 1995, and features on one of their biggest songs, “Don’t Fight It, Feel It”.
She also performed on tracks by The Pet Shop Boys, Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr’s duo Electronic, and post-punk band A Certain Ratio,
Her debut solo album, Where Does It Go, was scheduled for release on 25 September.
Born and raised in the Manchester suburb of Hulme, to a Jamaican mother who filled the house with reggae and ska music, Johnson began her professional career in a covers band, before joining US soul group Maze during their UK tour in the late Eighties.
She was introduced to Primal Scream when Tony Martin of the duo Hypnotone, who was involved in the making of Screamadelica, recommended her for the vocals on “Don’t Fight It, Feel It”.
Johnson described performing with the band to Louder Than War in 2018, commenting: “Recording with Primal Scream was nothing like I’d experienced before.
“It was more like going for a night out and you might do a bit of singing in between! And definitely a top night out when performing with them, because of the band’s influences there was a really good eclectic mix of sounds and grooves.”
Fans and fellow artists expressed their shock at the news of Johnson’s death, and shared tributes to her on social media.
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Primal Scream’s bassist, Simone Marie, wrote: “Very sad news... love and prayers to Denise’s family and loved ones. Rest in Power Denise Johnson x.”
Stephen Morris of Joy Division and New Order said he was “shocked and devastated” to hear of her death.
“We are all devastated to hear the news that our old friend and all round beautiful person Denise Johnson has passed away,” the official account for indie-rock band Doves tweeted. ”What a loss for the many people who loved her.”
Primal Scream’s Simone Marie Butler described it as “very sad news” and shared the band’s ‘Don’t Fight It Feel It’ in tribute to Johnson and the song’s producer Andrew Weatherall, who died earlier this year.
Tim Burgess, whose band The Charlatans performed various shows with Johnson, shared a photo of him and the singer together on stage.
The Chemical Brothers’ Ed Simons called her “amazing”. Reverend & The Makers described her as “one of the real ones”.
Sharing the track “Don’t Fight It”, DJ and producer Erol Alkan wrote: “I truly felt this, still do. Rest in peace Denise Johnson. My most sincere condolences to her family and friends.”
This article was amended on 27 July 2020 to replace the main image. An error in the caption for a photo supplied by an agency led to The Independent publishing a picture that was not of Johnson, as claimed.
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