Kenny Morris, the drummer who helped found and define the sound of goth post-punk legends Siouxsie and the Banshees, has died at the age of 68. No cause of death has been revealed. The news was confirmed by broadcaster, music journalist and musician John Robb who write a touching tribute to the star for the website Louder than War in which he recalled his “sweet, articulate, artistic and fascinating company”.
“Kenny was a friend of ours, and it was always a pleasure to see and hang out with him when visiting Cork in Ireland, where he had been living. He was sweet, articulate, artistic and fascinating company and his beautiful eccentricity was adorable,” he wrote. “He would turn up in a suit and a dress with open handcuffs on one hand and the next time in a totally different yet perfectly created bricolage of style, whilst still dressing in the artful confrontation of the 1976 punk era that he was such a key part of,” he wrote.
Kenny was a founding member of Siouxsie and the Banshees and during their formative years played on their first two albums, 1978’s The Scream and 1979’s Join Hands, both of which are regarded as classic, influential post-punk releases.
Born to Irish parents in London area in 1957 and Kenny grew up in Essex. After school he went on to study art and filmmaking.
He briefly joined Sid Vicious’ pre Sex Pistols band Flowers Of Romance in 1976 and that same year he attended Malcolm McLaren’s 100 Club Punk Festival, where he saw vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steven Severin playing with future Adam & the Ants member Marco Pirroni on guitar and Sid on drums.
Although it was supposed to be a one off show Siouxsie and Steven Sioux decided to keep the band going with Kenny as their drummer. Guitarist John McKay joined to complete the classic ’70s lineup of the group.
After leaving the band he played with several other acts over the years but in 1993 he reinvented himself after moving to Ireland from London.
He held several art teaching posts and ran an art gallery in Kildare Town in the late 1990s alongside working on his own paintings and drawings.
His most recent exhibition of his work was in Dublin in March 2024 titled “A Banshee Left Wailing”. He had also begun drumming again playing with Dublin post-punk goth band Shrine Of The Vampyre.
He had completed his memoir before his death and it is scheduled for publication later this year.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
