Former Member of Iconic Metal Band Dies: Saxon Confirms Nigel Durham’s Death

Late last month, Nigel Durham, the former drummer in English heavy metal band, Saxon, passed away. The musician was 61-years-old.

News of Durham’s passing was shared by the band’s official Instagram account, which has 120,000 followers.

Along with a photo of Durham behind his drum set, the band wrote: ‘We are very sad to hear of the passing of a member of the Saxon family, former drummer Nigel Durham. We send our love and thoughts to his wife Lauretta, daughter Gemme, his grandchildren, and family.”

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The post has been liked nearly 12,000 times.

Durham was a member of Saxon, which had eight top 40 UK albums, from 1987 to 1988. He drummed for the band’s 1988 studio album, Destiny after replacing their original drummer, Nigel Glocker. Destiny peaked at number 40 on the UK albums charts. To date, Saxon has sold more than 20 million albums globally.

Glockler, who rejoined Saxon after Durham left the band, offered his own tribute to Durham on Facebook. “RIP my friend, Nigel Durham – I will see you on the other side. Love and strength to Lauretta, his daughter and family,” wrote Glockler.

Several years after leaving the band Durham connected with other ex-Saxon members, Steve Dawson and Oliver Graham in a band called Son of a Bitch. He performed with the band, which later became known as Oliver/Dawson Saxon, from 2000 to 2010. In addition to playing with Saxon and Oliver/Dawson Saxon, Durham also drummed for Morpheus Rising, a British rock band, in the mid-2010’s. Durham played on the band’s second album, Eximius Humanus, released in 2014.

Last spring, rumors surfaced that Durham had passed, leading the drummer to address the rumors on his Facebook account in July. “Don’t know how this got started but I can assure everyone that I’m still alive & kickin. Lol,” wrote Durham.

A cause of death has been made public.