Tributes are being paid to Welsh singer and frontman of The Alarm, Mike Peters, who has died at the age of 66.
By Miles Salter
Feature photo: Mike Peters plays at Fibbers in 2018, photo by Chris Mackins
Peters was known as a passionate frontman with a belief in the power of music to inspire and invigorate. Although The Alarm came out of the ashes of punk and new wave, they were much less nihilistic than some of their fellows. In common with U2, who they toured with, The Alarm’s music was anthemic and optimistic. On the Alarm’s 1988 live album, Peters railed against songs that ‘make you feel like you’re no good… I’m out to fight those songs with every ounce of breath in my body.’
Peters started the band The Toilets in 1977 after seeing The Sex Pistols play in Chester. The Alarm, who kept a strong affiliation with Wales, played their first gig in Prestatyn in 1981. Peters fellow band mates were Nigel Twist (drums), Eddie MacDonald (bass) and Dave Sharp (guitar). Although Peters was the handsome frontman, all four members were involved in writing the band’s songs. The band’s gigs were raucous, sweaty celebrations of being alive.
They landed a support slot with U2 on the Irish band’s War tour of 1983. The Alarm’s debut album, Declaration, released in 1984, drew comparisons with The Clash and Bob Dylan. The album’s big song 68 Guns, a hymn to resilience and optimism, landed the band in the top 40. The follow up album, Strength, also did well. The band scored an unlikely hit with A New South Wales, featuring a Welsh Male Voice Choir, in 1989. Peters left The Alarm in 1991 to work on a solo career. When he revived The Alarm in 2000, the reformation was conspicuous for not having the original band members in, but the brand name was too tempting – he would often tour as The Alarm in the ensuing years.
Peters endured a very long battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was first diagnosed with the illness in 1995. He described his relationship with the cancer over the next two decades as like “fighting a war”, and at one stage wore army fatigues as a way of encouraging himself to battle the illness. At the end of 2005, the singer was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, which returned in 2015 before he went into remission.
In 2017, Peters took part in the ‘Big Busk’, which involved a walk between cancer wards at each north Wales hospital and ended on the summit of Snowdon. His wife, Jules, also had cancer. Peters co-founded the Love Hope Strength Foundation alongside his wife to help recruit bone marrow donors at live music shows. In 2019 he was awarded an MBE for services to cancer. In 2024, days before he was due to tour America, he was diagnosed with Richter syndrome – an aggressive form of Lymphoma. In 2018, he told Guitar World magazine that his “simple message” was “to stay alive and appreciate every second you’ve got… Live right up to the last breath and stay positive about the world, your family and the environment you live in.”
Music promoter Tim Hornsby, the man behind Fibbers and other ventures, hosted Mike Peters in York on many occasions across 30 years, with gigs from The Alarm as well as solo acoustic events at The Crescent. Hornsby told York Calling: ‘I’m going to miss his warm smile and generous spirit, backstage chats about anything and everything, and that lovely feeling you get when you’ve spoken to a special and unique human being.’ BBC Wales journalist Sue Charles called Peters ‘one of the nicest guys in rock.’
Peters is survived by his wife Jules, 58, and their sons Dylan, 20, and Evan, 18.
