Julian Keith Levene was an English musician who was a founding member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd.
14 Facts About Keith Levene
2.
Keith Levene was born and raised in London, and although initially influenced by progressive rock, his musical taste changed after meeting fellow Clash founder Mick Jones.
3.
Keith Levene was born in Muswell Hill, London on 18 July 1957.
4.
Keith Levene was an early fan of ska, The Beatles and progressive rock; at fifteen he worked as a roadie for Yes on their Close to the Edge tour, "cleaning Alan White's cymbals" amongst other mundane duties.
5.
Keith Levene became a founding member of the Flowers of Romance and notably the Clash, when in 1976, he helped persuade Joe Strummer to leave the pub rock band the 101ers and join the Clash.
6.
Keith Levene was involved in the writing, performing and producing of PiL's early albums: First Issue, Metal Box and Flowers of Romance.
7.
Keith Levene left PiL in 1983 due to creative differences over what would eventually become the band's fourth album, This Is What You Want.
8.
In mid-1986, Keith Levene was asked to produce demos for the album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan by the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Master Control in Burbank with engineers Steve Catania and Dan Nebenzal.
9.
Also in 1986, Keith Levene worked with DJ Matt Dike, experimenting with sampling techniques and hip-hop for Ice T and Tone Loc on their early recordings for Delicious.
10.
At an impromptu appearance at the Musicport Festival in Bridlington Spa on 24 October 2010, where they were joined by vocalist Nathan Maverick, Keith Levene returned with former PiL bassist Jah Wobble.
11.
In 2011 Keith Levene contributed to three tracks on the album Psychic Life, a collaboration between Wobble and Lonelady.
12.
In 2014, Keith Levene travelled to Prague to record the album Commercial Zone 2014, funded by a crowdsourcing campaign at Indiegogo.
13.
Keith Levene died from complications of liver cancer at his home in Norfolk on 11 November 2022, aged 65.
14.
Keith Levene married his first wife, Lori Montana, an American musician.