1. Kevin Coyne was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems.
20 Facts About Kevin Coyne
1. 2.
Kevin Coyne was critically acclaimed for his unorthodox style of blues-influenced guitar composition, the intense quality of his vocal delivery, and his lyrics describing injustice to the mentally ill.
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Musicians who have described themselves as Coyne fans include Sting and John Lydon.
4.
Over many years Kevin Coyne produced the art work for many of his own album covers.
5.
Kevin Coyne's move to Germany, in the 1980s, saw his work on full-size paintings blossom in its own right.
6.
In late 1975 and 1976 Kevin Coyne completed the musical England, England, written with playwright Snoo Wilson, and described as "an evocation of the Kray twins".
7.
In 1978 Kevin Coyne collaborated with fellow Derby Art School graduate Ian Breakwell to produce the film The Institution based on Breakwell's Artist Placement Group work at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.
8.
Early in his career, Kevin Coyne turned down a meeting with founder of Elektra Records Jac Holzman to discuss replacing Jim Morrison in the Doors.
9.
Kevin Coyne was the second artist signed to Virgin Records, after Mike Oldfield.
10.
In 1976 Kevin Coyne released the live album In Living Black and White that included Zoot Money, Andy Summers, Steve Thompson and Peter Woolf.
11.
The subsequent tour courted controversy when Kevin Coyne suggested, in the theatre presentation of the piece, that the destructive relationship between the two lovers could have been based on the Moors murderers.
12.
Kevin Coyne settled in Nuremberg, West Germany and having given up alcohol, never stopped recording and touring, as well as writing books and exhibiting his paintings.
13.
Kevin Coyne's move to Germany saw his writing and painting career blossom.
14.
Kevin Coyne published four books, two of which, Showbusiness and Party Dress, were published by Serpent's Tail in London.
15.
Kevin Coyne was survived by his wife Helmi and his sons Eugene, Robert and Nico.
16.
Kevin Coyne earned, too, the admiration of Johnny Rotten and Sting.
17.
Kevin Coyne was infinitely less precious and artistically self-centred than other artists of that era, such as Nick Drake, Melanie Safka and James Taylor, whose primarily acoustic albums appealed more to self-doubting adolescent diarists than fans of heavy metal, jazz-rock and similar genres that dominated early 1970s rock.
18.
On 15 June 2017 Kevin Coyne was commemorated with the unveiling of a blue plaque at the University of Derby Art School.
19.
In January 2018, an exhibition of Kevin Coyne's work was staged at the city gallery Alte Feuerwache in Amberg An exhibition, accompanied by a 70-page catalogue, compiled by Stefan Voit, was held from 9 June to 5 August 2018, at the Stadtische Galerie Cordonhaus in Cham.
20.
In 2024 Kevin Coyne was featured in Underground: The Illustrated Bible of Cursed Rockers and High Priestesses of Sound by Arnaud Le Gouefflec and Nicolas Moog.