Guitarist John Anthony, who was known for his work with rock bands in Kerala as well as in Malayalam and Tamil film music, died on Saturday night at the age of 62. Anthony died of a heart attack in Thiruvananthapuram, band members of his international rock project Lazie Bison said, Rolling Stone India reported.
After being part of several rock bands in Kochi, Anthony formed his own band, Karnatriix, combining elements of jazz and blues music with Indian classical music, The News Minute reported. In 2008, Karnatriix released their first album, “Namaste”. Guitarist and music composer Rex Vijayan, one of the founders of Karnatriix, said: “He would easily vibe, connect, he would understand new music and ideologies.”
“Devastated to say that legendary guitarist John Anthony who was Lazie J and Lazie Bison main axeman is no more. Unbelievable!” fellow Karnatriix guitarist Jay Pillai said. “That I am conveying this news to our friends, hoping all in his family find courage and strength to stand this huge loss.”
Anthony learned Carnatic music from composer MG Radhakrishnan, and then went to Chennai to perform film music. He later worked with violinist L Shankar, percussionist Sivamani and composer AR Rahman, Rolling Stone India reported. He also worked with Malayalam composers like Shyam and Raveendran. The guitarist performed over 2,500 shows in his lifetime.
Anthony also worked for the No More Bhopals campaign in the early 2000s, a reference to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy in which over 3,700 people died. He promoted cleanliness in Southern Railways and launched the Kadamma Music Outreach Programme in 2016 for environmental awareness. Anthony had been involved with causes such as ecological preservation too.
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