Killing Joke guitarist Kevin 'Geordie' Walker passed away aged 64 after suffering a stroke on Sunday 26 November in Prague, Czech Republic.
Band mate Martin Atkins confirmed Geordie's death by sharing a video of The Damaged Manuel song Laugh Track with the caption "gutted". In the comments section, Atkins wrote "Geordie has passed".
Members of FNM shared their simpathies on social media.
Bill Gould wrote, "RIP Geordie Walker, one of, if not THE, the most natural, intuitive, original guitarists I've ever seen."
And Mike Patton shared, "Rest in peace Geordie Walker. A truly influential musician."
After the firing of Jim Martin, Faith No More jammed with Geordie as their potential replacement guitar player.
Mike Bordin spoke with Adrian Harte about the almost collaboration.
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More
"We liked how we played. We liked his texture within the music. We liked the fact that he was incredibly aggressive with his tone, but wasn’t a soloist. He was cool, he talked about jamming with Jimmy Page, smoked a lot of cigarettes. We knew there would be some stuff that would be right up his alley, and some stuff that probably wouldn’t be. It was probably a bit of a long shot, even to get him to do it. But it was fucking fun."
"He’s a great guitar player," Bill Gould added. "One of the best I’ve ever seen. He would have been amazing, but he is so distinctive. I think he would have rendered us into a Killing Joke cover band."
Geordie's unique style and the music of Killing Joke were a huge influence on early FNM.
"As FNM we may have been musicians and made music together, but without Geordie's influence, who knows what we would have become, no doubt something completely different. The sound, the flow, the groove, the power. He did what he did for 45+ years without losing his way, maintained a immutable sense of self, and always walked the walk. Musically speaking, he leaves a massive hole. Big respect."
“The first time I heard Killing Joke I was 16 and it was so different, I didn't really get it at first. But when I did...wow. It made heavy music interesting...and groovy. But dark as hell...both humanly organic and extremely antisocial at the same time. I can't think of another band where, 34 years later, I'm still just as psyched to hear what they've come up with lately as I was when I first discovered them.” - Bill 2012
Killing Joke's original bass player Martin 'Youth' Glover produced The 'R-evolution 23 (Full Moon) Mix' and 'Sundown Mix' of A Small Victory in 1992.
RIP Geordie.