Kelly Holland, former vocalist for Cry Of Love and personal friend passed away in the early hours of Monday February 24th. He was 52 and died in hospital from a severe abdominal infection. Kelly was well known and loved among Free Appreciation Society readers who followed the career of the band in the FAS magazine over 1993 and 1994 when we featured them quite a lot and many readers went to the shows.
I was fortunate enough to travel with the band over a couple of UK tours and watched many excellent shows. It was a great time and they were all fabulous people to be around. The final show I saw with Kelly was in Denmark where we shared a room for a couple of days and had a really good time. Kelly wore my leather bikers jacket onstage and after the show he gave me his favourite Betty Page T-Shirt as a parting gift. I still have it. These were happy times and everyone who came into contact with the band loved them. They were my friends and I miss those days.
I always kept in touch with Kelly and tried to help with the Sun Dog project that sadly never really found its feet. He was a great singer, a really good drummer and I loved him. I'll never forget sitting on the bus travelling between shows overnight on the 1994 UK tour and playing Elton John's 'Captain Fantastic', which we both loved. We'd be drinking and talking and the last to bed. He had a great love of music and a comprehensive knowledge. I'm so sad he's gone.
I'll miss you brother.
If you've never heard the 'Brother' album you should. Its one of the best albums of 1993 and a stunning debut. It was a band that had it all and it didn't pass unnoticed that they had more than a little of the 'Free' groove about them. That's because they were all Free fans.
Listen and enjoy 'Shade Tree' a non-album cut from the 'Peace Pipe' CD Single. Beautiful song and a great vocal from Kelly.
