Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge dies age 80

The band's website described Graeme Edge as a fan of sailing, golf and sci-fi, and a "confirmed Trekkie"

Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward has paid tribute to bandmate Graeme Edge, who has died at the age of 80.

He was the drummer in the Birmingham-based rock band, famous for such hits as Nights In White Satin and Tuesday Afternoon.

Mr Hayward said: "Graeme's sound and personality is present in everything we did together and thankfully that will live on."

He described him as one of the "great characters of the music business".

Edge was born in Rocester, Staffordshire, in 1941, and moved to Birmingham with his family shortly after, the Moody Blues' official website said.

He then joined up with Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder to form the Moody Blues in 1964.

Mr Hayward said: "When Graeme told me he was retiring, I knew that without him it couldn't be the Moody Blues any more.

"And that's what happened. It's true to say that he kept the group together throughout all the years, because he loved it."

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He described his bandmate as a "poet as well as a drummer" and added there would "never be his like again".

The Moody Blues recorded music between 1964 and 2003

"Graeme and his parents were very kind to me when I first joined the group, and for the first two years he and I either lived together or next door to each other," Mr Hayward said.

"We had fun and laughs all the way, as well as making what was probably the best music of our lives."