Obituary: Richey Edwards

Nov 26 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

IT IS possible that another obituary will have to be written about this miner’s son of delicate temperament, who carried his considerable talent on a gossamer thread.

But, in the absence of definite information since his disappearance in February, 1995, Richey Edwards, of the Manic Street Preachers, has been declared legally dead.

Maybe it was symbolic that Edwards should vanish without trace. For even when he was evidently on stage, there was something ghostly about him. He didn’t sing and his rhythm guitar was often unplugged – the silent figure amid the music of the other three “Manics” (Nicky Wire on bass, singer/guitarist James Dean Bradfield and drummer Sean Moore).

Yet, to thousands of fans, he was the soul of a group which arose from the anger left by the misery of the miners’ strike in his native South Wales. They had intellect and social attitude. With Wire, and sometimes on his own, Edwards wrote the lyrics and designed their record covers.

Richard James Edwards was born in Blackwood. His brilliance was evident at an early age and he left Oakdale Comprehensive School with three A grades at A-level, leading him to the University of Wales, Swansea, where he read politics and graduated with a 2:1.

Some wondered if he would become a teacher, but Edwards suffered from changing moods. To begin with, he was the Manics’ roadie, but soon became their spokesman and a fully-fledged member.

Initially influenced by the punks, the group developed a more mature image. Edwards, who admired writers, including Albert Camus, Philip Larkin, Yukio Mishima and Fyodor Dostoevsky, made literary references in his lyrics.

They had modest success with singles such as, You Love us, Slash ‘n’ Burn, Motorcycle Emptiness and Suicide is Painless (the MASH theme, which entered the Top 10).

Their albums were far more successful – Generation Terrorists and Gold Against the Soul both sold well. Then came the Holy Bible (1994), which reached number 6. By then, Edwards was depressed and self-harming, having some years earlier razored “4 Real” into an arm to prove himself to a doubting rock writer. Edwards disappeared in London before a tour of the US.

Richey Edwards, lyricist; born December 22, 1967, declared dead November 23, 2008.