Lewis Pryme (/prim/: 1940 – 23 April 1990) was a New Zealand

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 ...

singer and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

director, and player.

Biography

Pryme was born in the coastal

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

town of Waitara, where the primary form of employment was the Borthwick's Freezing Works. He worked his way up the entertainment world ladder starting with Colin King's rock and roll band, the Harmonisers. He started to become widely known as a pop singer in the mid-sixties, after winning supporting slots for NZ tours by

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

groups

The Dave Clark Five The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark was the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964, they had their first UK top-ten single, ...

and

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English rock and pop group formed in 1963 in Manchester and formerly fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous tra ...

. His notable songs included "Come On" (1966), "A Star Is Born" (1966), "Gracious Lady Alice Dee" (1968), "What's He Got That I Ain't Got", "There's A Kind Of Hush" (1968), "Fantastic Fergie", "Deck Of Cards" (1969), and "Welcome To My World" (1970). He later set up his own agency to represent New Zealand artists in the music scene, ‘discovering' and representing many new talents including future successes

Tina Cross Tina Marie Cross (born 27 January 1959) is a New Zealand singer. She sang the winning entry in the 1979 Pacific Song Contest, and was the lead vocalist of synthpop band, Koo De Tah, whose single " Too Young for Promises" was a top ten hit in Au ...

, Rob Guest, Derek Metzger and Mark Williams. In 1985 Pryme was appointed Executive Director of the

Auckland Rugby Union The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since s ...

. Later in life, Pryme opened up about living as a

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

gay man. Pryme died of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

on 23 April 1990, a week after his partner of many years Jeff Fowler also died of AIDS on 16 April 1990, aged 32. His last days were recorded in a documentary, ''Lew Pryme -- Welcome to my World''.

References

1940 births 1990 deaths New Zealand pop singers AIDS-related deaths in New Zealand {{NewZealand-singer-stub