Frankie & The Heartstrings drummer Dave Harper has died, it has been confirmed.
The Sunderland band shared the news on their official Twitter account this afternoon (August 26).
“We are desperately sad to announce that our dearest friend and drummer Dave Harper passed away in hospital last night,” they wrote.
“Where do we even start to describe what kind of person he was and what he meant to so many. This legend was unforgettable and we’re heartbroken over this loss.”
A cause of death is not yet known.
We are desperately sad to announce that our dearest friend and drummer Dave Harper passed away in hospital last night. Where do we even start to describe what kind of person he was and what he meant to so many. This legend was unforgettable and we’re heartbroken over this loss pic.twitter.com/7gB7BwSqMD
— Frankie Heartstrings (@FrankieStrings) August 26, 2021
Gruff Rhys, The Subways, Dutch Uncles and Huw Stephens are among those to have paid their respects. “So sorry to hear this – sending you all, all the best – hard to imagine a world without his enthusiasm and passion, I’ve never met anyone like him,” Rhys wrote.
Dutch Uncles said they were “truly at a loss for words” at the news of Harper’s passing, adding: “If you ever had the pleasure of meeting him you would know he possessed that unparalleled ability to put you in tears of laughter and terror in the same sentence.”
So sorry to hear this – sending you all, all the best – hard to imagine a world without his enthusiasm and passion, I’ve never met anyone like him
— Gruff Rhys (@gruffingtonpost) August 26, 2021
RIP Dave x pic.twitter.com/cdtPeAewpI
— Dutch Uncles (@dutchuncles) August 26, 2021
“So sorry to hear of your loss. What a special, brilliant man. X,” Stephens commented, with The Subways adding: “Sending all our love.”
So sorry to hear of your loss. What a special, brilliant man. X
— Huw Stephens (@huwstephens) August 26, 2021
Harper was also one of the owners of the Sunderland record shop Pop Recs, which he ran with Heartstrings guitarist Michael McKnight (via the Sunderland Echo).
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