Kevin Michael Wilkinson (11 June 1958 – 17 July 1999) was an English drummer, who was based in

Baydon Baydon is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England about south-east of Swindon. The eastern boundary of the parish forms part of the county boundary with Berkshire, and the village is about north-west of the West Berkshire market town ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

, England.

Career

Born Kevin Michael Wilkinson in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surroun ...

, Staffordshire, he is credited as a former official member of several successful British new wave acts, including

the League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

(1980),

the Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

(1983–84),

China Crisis China Crisis are an English new wave and synth-pop band. They were formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside with a core of lead vocalist and keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon. Initially a politically charged post-pun ...

(1983–89) and Squeeze (1995–96), as well as drummer for

Holly Beth Vincent Holly Beth Vincent (born Holly Beth Cernuto in 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. In her youth Vincent sang and played drums and guitar in several bands and took part in the Los Angeles punk scen ...

(1981–82). He also appeared in some of his affiliated bands' music videos. Throughout the course of his career, Wilkinson was a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, performing with other artists as diverse as

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

and

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

, China Crisis, and Howard Jones. He was not related to Squeeze's bass player, Keith Wilkinson, although he was briefly a member of Squeeze at the same time as his namesake, and they can be seen in the video for " This Summer".

Personal life

He was married to Marilyn Fitzgerald, and had three children, named Finn, Josie and Ellie.

Death

Wilkinson committed suicide on 17 July 1999, aged 41, by hanging himself in the family home in

, near Swindon.

References

External links

*
AllMusic credits listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Kevin 1958 births People from Stoke-on-Trent People from Swindon 1999 suicides English drummers British male drummers English new wave musicians Squeeze (band) members The Waterboys members Suicides by hanging in England 20th-century English musicians Musicians from Wiltshire 20th-century British male musicians 1999 deaths