Reuters reports Mike Edwards, cellist and founding member of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), was killed Friday when a bale of hay crashed into his van. Edwards, who was 62 years old, was in Devon, southern England, when the hay rolled down a hill into his vehicle. (Authorities also believe he swerved into another car on the road.) Edwards played with ELO from 1972 until 1975.
Sep 6
2010
11:36 AM ET
ELO musician killed by bale of hay
- Comments 52
- Add comment
Latest News
- 'American Idol' Top 24: 14 names revealed
- Gail Simmons' 'Top Chef' blog: Top Two!
- 'John Carter': Fan-made trailer wins fans
- 'Glee': About THAT ending... (Spoiler Alert)
- Jamie Lee Curtis arrives on 'NCIS'
- Adele tops chart for amazing 21st week
- 'Days of Our Lives' photo: First gay kiss
- 'Idol' alum Haley Reinhart debuts single
Most Commented
- Chris Harrison blogs 'The Bachelor' episode 8 655
- Miranda Lambert tells Chris Brown to 'take notes' during 'Gunpowder and Lead' performance 611
- Father Knows Best? 591
- Amanda Knox signs a massive book deal with HarperCollins 594
- Rihanna and Chris Brown release simultaneous remixes, guest on each others' new tracks 452
Top 5 Most Read
- ‘American Idol’: 14 of Top 24 singers announced
- Most Overrated Best Picture Winners
- Jamie Lee Curtis makes her ‘NCIS’ debut: Where do you want to see her pop up next?
- ‘Glee’ winter cliffhanger: Where does it stack up against other [SPOILERS!]?
- Album Sales: Adele tops the chart for a 21st week; Bruno Mars, The Civil Wars get big Grammy bumps
This brings me down …
down down down, whoa-oh
no no no…(I can’t believe I mis-remembered the lyrics!)
Bruce!
“I’ll tell you once more, before I get off the floor, don’t bring me down!”
lkay…i bow to you… that was genius.
In no way am I negating this tragedy but……Lkay, FUNNIEST POST OF THE YEAR!
I could not agree more!
He wasn’t even in the band when they did that song. He left before they sold out to FM Radio.
The bale of hay didn’t kill him, the collison with the other vehicle did.
Yeah, it almost seems like they’re trying to get shock value page views
I thought I was going to be reading about how he was working on his farm and was crushed by a bale of hay.
I agree – the bale of hay didn’t kill him, the collision did. He would probably been better off if he’d just hit the bale of hay!
No doubt it contributed, but to say it killed him is ridiculous.
They estimate the hay bale weighed over 1,000 pounds, so it didn’t help.
Depends on the bale of hay. I’ve fed bales of hay to my horses — none of them weighed 1,000 lbs. More like 50.
Considering that they said in the news article that the hay bale was about 1300 plus pounds, I’d say it was a tad larger than what you are thinking. Most likely one of those huge round bales.
What farm from hell makes 1000 lb bales of hay.
when they’re 6 feet tall and round?
It rolled down a hill, smashed through a hedge, and went airborn. Smashed right into the front of his van. I think the collision may have been from his trying to miss the bale.
I heard it was the bale of hay that really mashed up the cab of his van.
In England they actually have hay stacks which are bound and can easily weigh in excess of 1000 pounds. It is not a bale like we are used to.
How incredibly sad this is. Not even funny. What a sad loss this is for his family and fans.
Terrible freak accident. Somehow the very large bale of hay rolled down the hill and smashed into the front of his van. My sympathy to his family.
…and that caused him to swerve into the path of an oncoming vehicle, which killed him (the other driver was unhurt).
but if the bale of hay had never rolled down the hill, he wouldn’t have swerved into the path of another vehicle, and would still be alive. so technically, yes, the bale of hay killed him.
actually, “techinically” it did not. indirectly, it did. on a coroner’s report, however, you can be sure that the cause of death will not be listed as “bale of hay”.
I’ve read some pretty dumb headers on EW, but this one is pretty close to the dumbest… and for such a tragic story as well. Tsk tsk EW.
Totally agree
Seriously. He died in a car accident not from an effing bale of hay directly. Come on, EW.
Great underrated band.
This aitrlce went ahead and made my day.
I have always loved ELO…RIP.
this
Fantastic band…very sad news.
Oh no, I love ELO! I can’t believe he died like that, it’s so unexpected. And a rather ugly coincidence, Jeff Lynne produced a few songs on Regina Spektor’s last album, and her cellist drowned a couple months ago. It’s a bad summer for cellists…
is there ever really a good summer for cellists? …just askin…
I was always a big fan of orange cello and lemon cello, especially when you cut up little pcs of fruit and put them in before it hardens….PS – “Boy Blue” and “Can’t Get It Out of My Head” – 2 of the best ELO songs, along with their rework of “Do Ya” by The Move (also Jeff Lynne)…
sad…
This is why I stopped my subscription to EW.
Wow! about as tasteless as you can get E.W.
Stay classy, EW.
It was a freaking big bale of hay. If you go to the BBC site they have a picture of it. The entire front top of the roof and windshield is completely caved in.
By the laws of physics, how is that actually possible? How big was the hill? I mean had this been an avalanche, yeah I could see how that could happen. Mr. Edwards will be greatly missed by his family and ELO fans everywhere. Lets hope that in 2011 they get inducted into the RARHF because they have inspired so many bands with their combination of classical music and rock. And yeah, Mr. Lynne, who exactly IS Bruce?