Photo: Press
Communion Records have issued a statement following the death of all four members of Viola Beach, and their manager Craig Tarry, saying all proceeds from their latest single, 'Boys That Sing', will be donated to the men's families. A campaign to get the single to No.1 is picking up steam.
As the BBC reports, Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin, along with their manager Craig Tarry, lost their lives when their vehicle left a bridge and crashed 82ft into a canal below in Stockholm on Saturday (13 February).
Local police say that divers recovered the bodies of the victims, and that the Nissan Qashqai they were driving plunged through a gap in the bridge, when it opened to let a bus pass beneath.
They were due to play in Warrington last night after appearing at a Swedish festival on Friday night, and also had support dates lined up with Blossoms.
The band's label, Communion Records, have released a statement, describing the band as "a truly great team of young men and about to the take on the world together." They continued, "To sit down with the band was to sit down with a group of guys whose band you wanted to be in, and to be in the presence of a band who knew just what it would take to make it. "
Norrköping! We play Dynamo (Hallarna) on tonight at 9.30pm at @wtmfestival 🌴 pic.twitter.com/EJphCdQwcr
— Viola Beach (@Viola_Beach) February 12, 2016
Rich Perry, the band's radio plugger, said, "This is the saddest news. Purely from a people perspective, we've lost 5 great humans. From a professional perspective, rarely have I'm been as sure of a band & manager who felt destined for the big time. Craig, Kris, Riv, Jack & Tom you were my friends. It's an honour to have spent time with you doing what we all love. RIP."
Their second single, 'Boys That Sing', was released last month, and the label has revealed that "all proceeds made from the single will be donated from Communion Records to the band and Craig’s families."
After the revelation that proceeds from the band's second single will go to their families, a campaign has been launched to get them to No.1. As of 8am Monday morning, 'Swings & Waterslides' is at No.6 in the UK chart - though we suggest you buy 'Boys That Sing' instead, because the label haven't commented on where proceeds from 'Swings & Waterslides' will go.
Buy 'Boys That Sing' on 7" vinyl here and online here - all proceeds go to the band's families.
