Michael Frederick Box (born 9 June 1947) is an English musician who is the lead guitarist of rock group Uriah Heep, having previously been a member of The Stalkers and Spice, both with original Uriah Heep vocalist David Byron.Larkin, Colin (2002) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 468 He is the only member from the band's founding in 1969 who is still active with the group, and – following the deaths of Lee Kerslake and

Ken Hensley Kenneth William David Hensley (24 August 1945 – 4 November 2020) was an English musician, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Uriah Heep (band), Uriah Heep during the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of ...

in 2020 – is also the last surviving member of the group's classic line-up. Uriah heep 01041977 33 300

Biography

Early influences

In 2018 Mick Box said that he was influenced by

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz guitarist, jazz, country guitarist, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid body ...

and Mary Ford,

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

, Tal Farlow and Barney Kessel. He attributes some of these influences to his first guitar instructor because he was the second guitarist for Django Reinhardt, as well as coming from a jazz background. When he started performing with Uriah Heep, other new bands included

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

, and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Spice

Before establishing Uriah Heep, Box's band was called

Spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

. The band performed from 1968 to 1969 with David Byron and Nigel Pegrum. Box said they chose that name because they didn't want to get categorised into a narrow genre. "There's lots of spices, and that was our train of thought with the name of the band" said Box in a 2021 interview. After Ken Hensley joined the members of Spice, they became Uriah Heep.

Recent activities

According to Box, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a 50th Anniversary Celebration, but he said that he was planning on a 52 year Celebration. He said he felt strange being in quarantine, because he was accustomed to being "on the road," and interacting with fans at concerts. He used the time to compose songs and produced some videos for the Lockdown Diaries. Box has used his talent to promote the Nightingale Cancer Support Centre.

Discography

With David Byron

*''

Take No Prisoners No quarter, during War, military conflict or piracy, implies that combatants would not be taken Prisoner of war, prisoner, but executed. Since the Hague Convention of 1899, it is considered a war crime; it is also prohibited in customary interna ...

'' – 1975

With Uriah Heep

*'' ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble'' – 1970 *''

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

'' – 1971 *'' Look at Yourself'' – 1971 *'' Demons & Wizards'' – 1972 *'' The Magician's Birthday'' – 1972 *'' Live '73'' – 1973 *'' Sweet Freedom'' – 1973 *'' Wonderworld'' – 1974 *'' Return to Fantasy'' – 1975 *'' High and Mighty'' – 1976 *''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

''...1977 *'' Innocent Victim''...1977 *''

Fallen Angel Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described ...

'' – 1978 *''

Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

'' – 1980 *'' Abominog'' – 1982 *'' Head First'' – 1983 *''

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

'' – 1985 *'' Raging Silence'' – 1989 *'' Different World'' – 1991 *'' Sea of Light'' – 1995 *''

Sonic Origami ''Sonic Origami'' is the 20th studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Casset ...

'' – 1998 *'' Wake the Sleeper'' – 2008 *'' Celebration – Forty Years of Rock'' – 2009 *'' Into the Wild'' – 2011 *'' Outsider'' – 2014 *'' Living the Dream'' – 2018 *'' Chaos & Colour'' – 2023

With Iris

*'' Lady in Black'' – 2002

With Spearfish

*''Back for the Future'' – 2003

References

External links

The Official Website of Mick Box
{{DEFAULTSORT:Box, Mick Uriah Heep (band) members 1947 births Living people English rock guitarists English heavy metal guitarists English lead guitarists People from Walthamstow Musicians from the London Borough of Waltham Forest