Image: Jose D. Malave, thevisualeffect.com

RIP Danny Wilder, front man of Kings of the City

Published on October 7th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

This morning we learnt of the passing of Danny Wilder, front man of Rocksucker favourites Kings of the City, at the age of just 27.

Gifted with a brilliantly rasping voice and a beguiling guitar technique, Danny provided the band’s main songwriting thrust to go with the thoughtful verses of rappers Ali Bla Bla and Koken.

Few have succeeded in successfully melding rock and rap, but Kings of the City nailed it. With his bluesy, atmospheric jangling and fingerpicking, Danny was the group’s rock in more ways than one.

We interviewed him in March, soon after Kings of the City’s “Please Tell Me” single had featured amongst our singles of the week.

Here’s what we said of it…

A lilting swing, a lovely walking bass line, a slight Western feel, harmonies, rap sections, an ace growly lead vocal: there’s so much good stuff crammed into this and it all sounds so seamlessly integrated together, unlike so many attempts at ‘crossover’. This just sounds like disparate influences coming together naturally as opposed to being forced, which is rarer than it ought to be in these days of “yeah, just stick a beat on that”.

Radio 1 DJ and Kings of the City fan Charlie Sloth dedicated his show to Danny…

…while others to have championed them include Zane Lowe and Rob da Bank.

Join us now in celebrating Danny’s musical legacy through the following series of music videos. He may have been taken from us, but these can never be…

“Please Tell Me”

“Grave Digger”

“Forest of Babylon”

“The Devil”

“Mad Men”

“The Chain”

“Make Me Worse”

RIP Danny Wilder, a true talent and a great person to all who knew him.

Danny Wilder

Artists: kings of the city

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.