It is with great regret that we learned that our old friend, John Duff Lowe, passed away on 22 February, 2024. Our sincere condolences, together with many which we have received from Quarrymen fans all over the world, go to John’s wife and his family.

John’s great claim to fame was, of course, that he played piano on the Percy Phillips’ recording of “That’ll be the Day” and “In Spite of all the Danger”, and that he ended up with the precious shellac recording of the session. The Quarrymen owe him a great debt for his efforts to get the group back together, which began in 1990. After a couple of false starts he succeeded in producing the CD “Open for Engagements”, which triggered off interest in the Quarrymen which eventually resulted in our getting back together in 1997.

Because of family commitments Duff did not start playing with the revived Quarrymen until 2005, and his last gig was in 2018, after which his progressive illness made playing keyboards increasingly difficult.  We are pleased that his son, Henry Duff Lowe, has been able to take his father’s place on keyboards and help keep his memory intact.