UFO guitarist Vinnie Moore recently appeared on Michael’s Record Collection and reflected his sadness over his late bandmate Paul Raymond’s death. Moore said that Raymond seemed very happy at the time of his death because everything was going really well.
Paul Raymond had joined UFO as the keyboardist to replace Danny Peyronel in 1976, and he was a long-term member of the band, although he took short breaks at some points. The guitarist/keyboardist, unfortunately, died of a heart attack on April 13, 2019, and his sudden death was a real shock for his family and friends.
At the time of Raymond’s death, UFO had completed the first leg of their farewell tour, ‘Last Orders,’ in the U.K. and Ireland. The UFO members were mourning his death but decided to move forward with the tour anyway, and Neil Carter replaced Raymond for the remaining shows. The tour started in 2019 on UFO’s 50th anniversary, and their last concert is scheduled to take place in Athens on October 29, 2022.
In the conversation, Vinnie Moore recalled Paul Raymond passing in the middle of the tour. Moore explained that they were really shocked and devastated when they heard about his sudden death. Moore then added that their tour was going very well with crowded shows, which made Raymond very happy. Vinnie Moore said that it was unfortunate that Paul passed while they were enjoying a successful career.
Here is how Moore reflected on Raymond’s mood before his death:
“We were already out in the middle of the big farewell tour. And right after we did England — like, one week later, man — we got the message that Paul had passed. Man, he was so happy. We were really having some successful shows — good crowds; everything was going really well. I know he was very, very happy. It’s kind of a shame that he had to kick off when things were going really well.
When I first heard it, I thought, ‘Okay, this is probably the end of the band,’ but then there started to be some talk pretty quickly about Neil Carter, who had played in the band before, stepping in, which actually happened. I think he was with us for, like, a year — we did a year’s worth of shows — and then COVID hit. So we had all these gigs lined up that had to be pushed back a year, and then they were pushed back a year again. And so now we don’t go out until June in Europe in 2022.”
You can watch the full conversation below.
