Justin Hayward features on new version of Forever Autumn

Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward features on a brand new version of his Top Five 1978 hit Forever Autumn, from Jeff Wayne's multi-award winning The War Of The Worlds. You can watch the brand new lyric video below.

“Wherever I go in the world and play Forever Autumn people seem to know it, and love it. It’s timeless," says Hayward.

It's taken from a brand new three-track Forever Autumn: Now, Then And Always EP which has been released today. The EP features the 1978 original of the song, a version featuring Hayward's original vocal, with the instrumentation and production adapted from the 2012 New Generation version of Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds, and a duet featuring Hayward and Anna-Marie Wayne, who appears again as Carrie, the Journalist’s Fiancé, in the upcoming Life Begins Again tour.

“Forever Autumn has always been such a special song for me, as I know it is for many, and I am truly honoured to be part of my father Jeff Wayne’s new incarnation of it alongside the incomparable Justin Hayward," says Anna-Marie Wayne

“Forever Autumn has a special place in my heart," adds Jeff Wayne. "Beginning in 1978 when it was released as the first single from my musical version of The War of The Worlds and watching it become a major international hit. But, for me, it’s specialness is due to the song itself, especially the lyrics by Gary Osborne and Paul Vigrass which are about someone you have loved and lost, something we can all relate to. Then over the years seeing it step outside the story of The War of The Worlds and connected with so many in various ways."

The War Of The Worlds: The Life Begins Again tour kicks off at Nottingham Motorpoint Arena on March 23 and concludes at London The O2 on April 9. Tickets are on sale now.

Buy the latest issue of Prog Magazine.

Artists

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.