April Wine frontman Myles Goodwyn dead at 75

Myles Goodwyn in 2016 — (Image credit: The Canadian Press / Alamy Stock Photo)

April Wine founder Myles Goodwyn has died at the age of 75 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. His death was confirmed by his publicist, Eric Alper, although no other details have been released. In December 2022, Goodwyn announced that he was retiring from the road, after experiencing diabetes-related ill health.

"Although I’m still in the band writing, recording the guys and producing, I am now officially retired from touring," he wrote. "I will miss the shows, the fans and the other bands that have been friends for years, but health reasons have made this decision necessary." Goodwyn's final show with April Wine was on March 2, 2023, at the Roth Eastlink Community Centre in Truro, Nova Scotia.

Goodwyn founded April Wine in Waverley, Nova Scotia, in 1969 alongside guitarist David Henman, drummer Ritchie Henman and bassist Jim Henman, and would go on to appear on each of the band's 16 studio albums during a 45-year recording career that would see them sell more than 10 million albums.

1976's The Whole World's Goin' Crazy was a number one album in Canada, and the band had more than hit 30 singles in their home country. While some success was achieved south of the border, April Wine failed to make headway in the UK, despite appearing on the bill at the inaugural Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington in 1980, and returning to tour the following year.

April Wine were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2010, while Goodwyn received an ECMA Lifetime Achievement Award for his impact on Canadian music in 2003. In 2016 he published an autobiography, Just Between You and Me.

"When I talked about me, I had to be truthful,” Goodwyn told The Gazette the same year. “I was in the business in the '60s and '70s, and alcohol and drugs was a big part of the performing arts. You go to the 'office,' quote-unquote, and someone offers you a drink as soon as you walk into work.

"Everyone was partying. We all went through that. Some of us made it, some of us didn't. I was lucky, but I was also smart. That's why I'm still here, and that's why I can remember what happened and write it down. Because I survived it all."

He would release his final two albums – Myles Goodwyn And Friends Of The Blues in 2018 and a sequel the following year – with the second picking up a Juno award for Best Blues Album in 2020. April Wine were inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in September.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.