Vanwarmer Loses Cancer Battle

Singer-songwriter RANDY VanWARMER has lost his year-long battle with leukaemia. He was 48.

The JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST star died on Monday (12JAN04) at the UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON MEDICAL CENTER in Seattle, Washington.

VanWarmer reached the height of his fame in the late 1970s, but was writing music up until last year (03).

His friend and fellow songwriter JEFF PEARSON says, "A lot of people think he disappeared after Just When I Needed You Most, but he had a good run as a songwriter.

"I've seen audiences mesmerized by him when he performed. His voice, in one word, was angelic."

VanWarmer was born in 1955 in Indian Hills, Colorado, and despite spending most of his life in America, he spent a lot of his childhood in Cornwall, south-west England, after his father died.

VanWarmer's recently-recorded duet with country singer RAZZY BAILEY, entitled SANDCASTLES, will be released in America in the Spring (04).