John Leslie Keeble (born 6 July 1959) is an English

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

drummer. He is best known for his membership of the 1980s new wave band

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

Early years

Keeble was athletic as a child, playing both football and cricket. He bought his first drum kit at the age of 16 and started pursuing an interest in music in a

Dame Alice Owen's School Dame Alice Owen's School (DAOS, or simply Dame Alice Owen's or Owen's) is an 11–18 co-educational, partially selective secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England. It is part of the Dame Al ...

band called The Cut with

Gary Kemp Gary James Kemp (born 16 October 1959) is an English songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the new wave band Spandau Ballet. Kemp wrote the lyrics and music for all 2 ...

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the New wave music, new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley retur ...

and

Steve Norman Steven Antony Norman (born 25 March 1960) is an English musician who plays tenor saxophone, guitar, percussion and other instruments, for the English New wave music, new romantic band Spandau Ballet. Biography Early years Steve Norman was born in ...

in 1976. The band soon recruited Kemp's brother

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

on bass, which completed the line-up. The band was later named The Makers, The Gentry and then Spandau Ballet.

Spandau Ballet

Spandau Ballet produced a number of international hits including "

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * ...

", "

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

" and "

Through the Barricades ''Through the Barricades'' is the fifth studio album by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 17 November 1986 by CBS Records. The band was continuing their efforts to replicate the sound of their live performance on a studio album ...

." In 1984 the band participated in the Band Aid charity project and

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

the following year. The band broke up in 1990, after their final studio album, '' Heart Like a Sky'', failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of their earlier albums, such as ''

'' and ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

''. In 1999, John Keeble, along with fellow band members

and

, attempted to sue former Spandau Ballet guitarist,

, for alleged unpaid royalties. They claimed that an agreement had existed between Kemp and the rest of the band, whereby Kemp, who was the main songwriter in the band, would pay his bandmates a share of the royalties earned. The claims were vigorously denied by Kemp, and Keeble, Hadley and Norman subsequently lost their court case. Although initially vowing to appeal against the verdict, they later decided against this. Keeble, with Gary Kemp, was instrumental in setting up Spandau Ballet's reunion in the 2000s. On 25 March 2009, he joined the rest of his original classic-line-up bandmates for a press conference at

HMS Belfast HMS ''Belfast'' is a Town-class cruiser (1936), Town-class light cruiser that was built for the Royal Navy. She is now permanently moored as a museum ship on the River Thames in London and is operated by the Imperial War Museum. Construction ...

, to announce that the band had reformed and would conduct a world tour starting in Dublin in October 2009.

Other work

Keeble played drums for

Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, the former lead singer of

Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

, during his first-ever solo show in the Rex Cinema at

Lockerbie Lockerbie (, ) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, located in south-western Scotland. The 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town had an estimated population of in . The town came to international attention in December 1988 when ...

on 21 March 1989. He performed on his single " State of Mind", the third track on his debut solo album '' Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors''. He has also worked with 69 Daze, The Herbs, Pacific and Tim Deluxe. After the original breakup of Spandau Ballet, Keeble played in the

solo band and was on tour throughout 2006. He has also formed his own rock band, I Play Rock, with Richie B and Chris Paulo Dale, in which he plays drums and provides vocals.

Personal life

Keeble became friends with

when they met at

. Keeble married his wife Leaflyn in 1988 and Fish gave her away at the wedding. The couple have a daughter Jaime Rae Keeble (born 1990).

References

External links

*
I PLAY ROCK Website
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeble, John 1959 births Living people British male drummers English new wave musicians English rock drummers New wave drummers Musicians from the London Borough of Camden Spandau Ballet members People from Hampstead