• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

JAGUAR Pays Tribute To Fallen GIRLSCHOOL Guitarist

July 17, 2007

NWOBHM heavyweights JAGUAR have posted the following message on their web site:

"It is with much sadness that we have been told that Kelly Johnson, the ex-GIRLSCHOOL guitarist, passed away on Sunday after losing a six-year battle with cancer. JAGUAR extends it sincerest condolences and regards to Kelly's family and friends, including the other members of GIRLSCHOOL. Our hearts and thoughts are with you girls."

Along with Johnson, the classic lineup of GIRLSCHOOL included Kim McAuliffe (guitar),Enid Williams (bass) and Denise Dufort (drums). The band was an integral and major force in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement, beginning with the release of its debut album, "Demolition" (1980),and continuing with the follow-up efforts, "Hit 'n' Run" (1981) and "Screaming Blue Murder" (1982).

Johnson originally left GIRLSCHOOL in 1984 after recording the band's fourth album, "Play Dirty", and moved to Los Angeles where she lived for the next 10 years. She rejoined GIRLSCHOOL in 1993 and moved back to the U.K. From 1993 until 2000 Kelly, Kim, Denise and Tracey Lamb toured Europe and the USA and recorded a live album in March 1995. Kelly decided to quit the music business for good in 2000 after recording her final album with GIRLSCHOOL, "Not That Innocent: 21st Anniversary" (2001).

For more information, visit the Kelly JohnsonMySpace tribute page.

Back in January, Majestic Rock issued the first in an ongoing series of Internet-only archive releases containing a 1982 soundboard recording of JAGUAR performing in Hengelo, Holland. Entitled "Holland '82", the CD is strictly limited to 1,000 copies and features sleeve notes from JAGUAR guitarist Garry Pepperd. It is only available from the Majestic Rockweb site.

JAGUAR is currently writing material for a new studio album, which they plan on recording later in the year. No further information is currently available.

JAGUAR's most recent studio album, "Run Ragged", was released in July 2003 through Angel Air Records.

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).