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Well-known musician and member of space rock pioneers Hawkwind, Nik Turner recently passed away on November 10, 2022, at the age of 82. The news was disclosed on his social media page, which stated:
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Nik Turner – The Mighty Thunder Rider, who passed away peacefully at home on Thursday evening. He has moved onto the next phase of his Cosmic Journey, guided by the love of his family, friends, and fans. Watch this space for his arrangements.”
Turner’s cause of death remains unknown. He used to play the saxophone and the flute. However, his talents also saw him serve as a vocalist and composer. He became popular for his experimental free jazz stylizations and stage presence, where he used to wear full makeup and appear in ancient Egypt-inspired attire.
Netizens pay tribute to Nik Turner on Twitter
Nik Turner was popular for being a member of Hawkwind and appearing at several music festivals. Twitter was flooded with tributes when people heard about his demise:
Nik Turner was an expert at playing the saxophone and flute
Born on August 26, 1940, Nik Turner’s family shifted to the Kent seaside resort of Margate when he was 13, and he worked at the local funfair during the holidays in the summer. He completed his engineering course and spent a year in the Merchant Navy. Working some menial jobs around Europe, he met musician Dave Brock in 1967.
Detailed information on his family members remains unknown. However, his father reportedly worked in a munitions factory in Oxford before his family shifted to another place.
Nik Turner trained himself in clarinet and saxophone for two years during the early 1960s and met a few jazz players in Berlin who taught him the importance of expression over technical proficiency. Turner was also a van owner and offered his services to Hawkwind as a roadie. This was right after the band had formed.
Subsequently, when the group learned that he could play the saxophone, they included him in the band. He wrote a few of their songs. However, not everyone in the band was pleased with how he approached music, as he reportedly had a habit of playing over other members of the band. Turner was featured in the band’s live albums like Zones, This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic, and more. He left the band in 1976.
Nik Turner returned to England and assembled the Sphynx band with Alan Powell, Mike Howlett, Tim Blake, and Harry Williamson, and released an album, Xitintoday, in 1978. He made a guest appearance on Williamson’s album Fairy Tales and Gilli Smyth’s Mother Gong. He also formed another group called the Inner City Unit with Mo Vicarage, Ermanno Ghisio Erba, Trev Thoms, and Dead Fred. The group released albums like Pass Out and Maximum Effect until it eventually collapsed.
His next project was a saxophone and Hammond organ-driven jazz and rhythm and blues band, Nik Turner’s Fantastic All Stars. They performed for a few years and released an album, Kubanno Kickasso! He was also approached by Pressurehed and Helios Creed in 1993 to record a version of his Sphynx project with original flute-based tracks. The album, Sphynx, was released that same year. They continued to perform together in the US and released another album, Prophets of Time, in 1994.
Members of Hawkwind reunited at an event at the Brixton Academy in October 2000 and later settled for the name Space Ritual. Nik also appeared at the first Reggae Festival of Wales in 2003. Moreover, he resurrected a version of the Inner City Unit and continued to perform at different festivals.
Nik Turner was invited to the Space Mirrors collective as a guest member in 2008 and recorded flute and saxophone on three releases of Space Mirrors — Majestic-12: A Hidden Presence, Dreams of Area 51, and In Darkness They Whisper. He also played the flute for Dodson and Fogg and was invited by Mr H to appear on his fourth album, Poets, Balladeers, and Cheats.
He played at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, in 2013 and played saxophone and narrated Brainstorm on the album Warfare.
