Slade legends Jim Lea and Don Powell reunite for in-conversation event
Two former members of legendary Black Country rockers Slade are re-uniting for the first time in 19 years for an in-conversation event at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
‘In Conversation with Slade bandmates Jim Lea and Don Powell’, will feature the bassist and drummer talking about the band in front of 140 fans in the Georgian Rooms at the art gallery on Saturday, August 6.
Tickets, priced £12, were going online at eventbrite.co.uk at 5pm today, and are expected to be snapped up. All proceeds from the event will go to the art gallery.
'Gobby Holder', the singer with female Slade tribute group 'Slady' will be performing a short acoustic set at the event .
A few lucky fans visiting the Black Country Beats exhibition at the art gallery, have bumped into the pair during the past week. The exhibition celebrates the diverse musical genres that emerged from the Black Country between the 1970s and 2000s, and features a room dedicated to Slade, as well as other exhibits featuring Robert Plant and Beverley Knight among many others.
Lea and Powell played with Slade from its inception in 1966 as The 'N Betweens and then Ambose Slade, before the band shortened its name.
Slade. also featuring Noddy Holder and Dave Hill, went on to dominate the singles and album chart in the 1970s, with hits including Coz I Luv You, Mama Weer All Crazee Now, Gudbuy T'Jane and Cum On Feel the Noize. But Slade split in 1992 when Noddy Holder left.
Powell remained with the band for over 50 years until an acrimonious exit from Slade II in 2020, when he announced that he had been fired by email by Hill.
Both Lea and Powell have suffered health issues in recent years. This May, Powell had an operation for bowel cancer, while Lea was treated for prostate cancer in 2014.
