Former ELO Cellist Dies

Cellist Mike Edwards, who was an early member of the Electric Light Orchestra, has been killed in a tragic accident in Devon when the van he was driving was hit by a runaway bale of hay.

Edwards was driving in his van near Totnes when he was hit by a 94 stone bale of hay that apparently slipped from a tractor and rolled down a hill by the road, gathering huge momentum as it went.

Edwards was apparently killed instantly as the bale crashed through a hedge and hit the cabin of his van. 

Sergeant Steve Walker of the Devon and Cornwall police traffic unit, told the Associated Press: "This was a tragic accident and we have now identified the victim as Michael Edwards, a founder member of ELO.

"We have used photographs and YouTube footage to identify him but we now need help contacting his family for formal identification. We don't believe he was ever married and we have identified an ex-girlfriend but she is currently abroad."

Edwards joined ELO in 1972 and played in the band’s first ever live shows. He left a couple of years later to become a Buddhist. He appeared on the albums ELO 2, On The Third Day and Eldorado, A Symphony as well as the live album The Night the Light Went On (In Long Beach) (which features one of his famous cello solos).

In recent years Edwards has been teaching cello in and around the Devon area.

RIP Mike Edwards, 1948 - 2010