Memorial Service – 19th February 2016

Details of a memorial service for Colin.

Following Colin’s tragic death on 26th January, we have arranged a public Memorial Service in Liverpool where he grew up.

Everyone is warmly invited to join Colin’s family and friends at 7pm on Friday 19th February 2016 at: Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, St James Mt, Liverpool, L1 7AZ.

Please join us to mourn but more importantly to celebrate his life and music. Please share this information with your friends and anyone who loved Colin or his music – we want to give him a wonderful send off so the more that can come, the better.

Liverpool has a good selection of hotels to suit all budgets but we recommend you make your travel and accommodation arrangements early as hotels fill up quickly on Friday nights. The Cathedral is a 20 minute walk from Liverpool Lime Street Station, and the Cathedral has a pay-and-display car park.

His family ask that you don’t send flowers, but those who wish may make a donation in Colin’s memory to one of two chosen charities:

Bru Columbanus – a facility that provides ‘home from home’ accommodation to relatives of seriously ill patients in Cork Hospitals and has been a haven for Colin’s family in the past few weeks. You can donate to this here: http://www.mycharity.ie/event/colinvearncombe/
Or
West Cork Rapid Response Team – a voluntary group working in partnership with the Cork Emergency Services that provides pre-hospital critical care at the scene of accidents. This service is funded entirely by donations
You can donate to this here: http://www.westcorkrapidresponse.ie/

45 comments on “Memorial Service – 19th February 2016”

I am very sad, sorry, I wish I could still be on the show, I feel sorry for his wife -rodziny, sad
/sorry for mistakes/ ♥♥

The news of Colin’s death left me so sad and my thoughts are with his family. Over the oast few days I have been playing Colins’s music and it made me smile , a bitter smile perhaps but still a smile . I will be attending the ceremony on 19 th of February and hope as many of those that enjoyed Colin’s music as pisible also attend .

Andrew

I’m still reeling over the fact that our Colin has gone. It will be an evening matched by extremes of emotion but I shall be there, with my family and with so many happy memories of Colin’s beautiful music stretching all the way back through my life to teenage years. Bless you Colin xxx

So sad to lose Colin so young and with so many more melodies and memories still to make. He left us with a catalogue of beautiful music which is part of the soundtrack of our lives. God bless you Colin.

i´m so sorry about his death. his music was with me since my teenager days.
Rest in Peace and thank you for all…

I have only just heard and am shocked to the bone hearing this tragic news. My sincere condolences to his family. I am very far away in South Africa but can’t explain in words what an influence he has had on my “Wonderful Life”. To think I listened to his music last week! I want to fly up to the moon. If only he was there. Will miss you Black but will always remember you and your awesome music. Sorry I can’t make it to Liverpool to pay my last respects. Good Bye for now and remember your not alone.

Would just like to wish all of Colin’s family my condolences I live in poole dorset I would love to come on the 19th of February but I’m afraid work has given me no chance his music was part of my growing up and I for 1 will miss his talented voice with all my heart I wish you all love and good wishes

Want to thank you, again, for sharing with us all related to Colin. His spirit, his talent, but above all its warmth and magic always in my heart. Des de Barcelona, Gràcies!

Only his body was death…his talent, his music, his genius, his love and his spirit stay here with us…

His love lives for ever…

Ahora más que siempre, estas presente querido Colin…

Xxx
@_jpgo

I had followed Colin ever since his big “Wonderfull Life” hit of the late 1980s. I never let that following down afterwards and regularly sought out anything that he had produced after that. I think his later material was growing even more in maturity and deep thought even beyond that initial sucess. I will miss that most gentle and thoughtful voice.

We are aiming to be at the memorial service. I’m sure it will be an evening of mixed emotions as I’m sure it will be a celebration of Colin’s music and I’m sure he would want everyone to have a wry smile on their face……but at the same time tinged with sadness. I’ve just seen a clip of Howard Jones perform Wonderful Life as a tribute at a recent gig of his. Paul & Linsey, Manchester x

Lamento profundamente la muerte de Colin , desde Chile envio mis condolencias a su familia y sueño y espero que algun dia se le reconozca mundialmente como uno de los mejores cantantes , porque eso era El … un genio de la música.
vuela alto Colin QUE SIEMPRE TE RECORDARE.

I wish I could be there but I won’t be able to attend. I will be thinking of Colin as I have been every day since his tragic accident. I am playing his music now and keep finding beautiful songs I didn’t know about. Colin was such a huge talent and his music was part of my growing up. My son now plays his music as well. So sad, live seems so unfair at times. Your music will live on in our house and many others. Good bless Colin.

I was extremely saddened to hear of Colin’s passing. His music inspired me at a very particular time in my life around 1993 and I have loved his music ever since. I will continue to buy as many Black CD’s I can find in South Africa!! RIP Colin X

From those early days at The Warehouse with the tape machine to The Zanzibar 2015, it’s been a great journey. So many great songs with so many associated memories. It’s been a pleasure having Colin’s music in my life.

I am very, very sad. I was at Black’s concert in Hamburg (Germany) on Nov. 21st, 2015.
Ich war gemeinsam mit meiner Frau bei dem Konzert. Es war sehr schoen!
Ich kann es einfach nicht glauben… es ist unfassbar

Wir sind sehr traurig.

Seiner Familie gilt mein herzliches Beileid! Es tut mir sehr leid.

Mario

Still unbelievably sad at his passing. Unfair and a waste.
Can anyone tell me if Colin knew Jesus as his savior.
Knowing Colin is safe in His arms would make all the difference in the world to me.

I will sadly be unable to attend Colin’s Memorial Service as I live in Scotland, but I will be thinking of Colin, and all of his family at this time. I still find it so hard to believe that he is no longer with us, and like so many of his fans, have been listening to his music a lot, as if to try and seek some comfort from this devastating news. His music, as always, brings warmth and happiness, but it is tinged with sadness now, at the loss of the man who gifted us with his songs.
R.I.P. Colin. You will be forever missed and never forgotten. x

Dear Colin,

thank you for make better life than we can touch. Hopefully you are in the higher dimension.

From Hungary.

Lieber Colin,
über 20 Jahre habe ich deine Karriere verfolgt. Immer wieder ist mir deine Musik in den Kopf gekommen und ich habe nach dir im Internet gesucht. Ich habe mich immer gefreut, wenn ich auf neue Musik von dir gestoßen bin, du weiterhin deine Musik gemacht hast und dem Kommerz des Musikgeschäfts getrotzt hast. Vielen Dank für die vielen schönen Lieder und Momente, die du mir damit geschenkt hast. Dein Marc…

I was deeply saddened to hear that Colin had died.
I remember buying the first album as soon as I had heard the song “Wonderful Life” on the radio !…..What a superb song ! and what a brilliant album.
I’m 70 now, and was hoping that he’d be doing a gig near me one of these days down in South Wales, but alas, it is not to be.
My sincere condolences go out to all Colin’s family, you must be absolutely devastated.
Colin will be sadly missed, but I know his music will be played forever and will constantly be discovered by our children and our children’s children…………….Wish I’d seen him singing live !! …………………As others have said, thank you Colin for being part of the soundtrack to my life and many others !!!

Colin’s legacy is that he gave us music & lyrics that are snippets of his soul.
There are not many of us who are blessed with this gift,the Creative Principle was in a good place when it gave Colin this talent.
The tin has gone but we are left with the beans & they are spread so far that he will live eternally while humans have ears.
Memories don’t leave like people do,they always stay with you.
Have a great night on friday 19th in the Peoples Republic of Liverpool.
I am trying to get to the gig,the last time i was in the Anglican Cathedral was for Biffa’s (Pale Fountains) & Pete De Freitas’s (Echo & The Bunnymen) memorial back in the day.
God bless us all
Hail & Farewell mucka.
Paulo xx

I wish I could be there as Colin’s music was such a big soundtrack for my life , as a child of the 80s I grew up on his amazing artistry . Then in recent years was able to reconnect with Colin through Facebook and his pledge campaign , it’s still not really sunk in that he is no longer with us . A live stream like what was produced for Lemmy of Motorhead on their youtube channel would be a great way to see this incredible talent and gentleman off for us fans who unfortunately cannot be there in person .

I will be there on Friday. A million times over. A fan since his Wonderful Life release.

I never had the courage (Dutch or otherwise) to meet Colin when attending his gigs. The doomed Liverpool gig at the Kazimier and the Zanzibar. The Night and day café Manchester and Shaw in Oldham, being the last gigs I attended. I chose to watch from afar, how wonderfully he treated his fans, and how much he always gave of himself. Star struck at 41yrs old, is such a strange feeling.

“Let me watch you make love” are the only words I will ever have said to him. This would be in Oldham, when he asked the crowd for requests for the final song of the night. He would have had absolutely no clue, just how amazingly high he made me feel, when he looked in my direction, and replied “that’s being a bit personal isn’t it” before sitting down to play that very track.

A large part of my life, you have been Colin… And will continue to be.. Thank you.

Great musician, great songs and such a wonderful voice! R.I.P. dear Colin. Miss you so much. Your music will never die!
My deepest condolences to Colin’s whole family.

I had so hoped I would somehow manage to get the day off, hop on a plane and be there for the memorial service, but sadly things haven’t worked out that way. I’ll put on my Black T-shirt tomorrow night though, listen to his music and very much be there in spirit. It would have been really comforting to meet others who feel the same way as I do, to jointly mourn and celebrate Colin’s life. I’ll be thinking of all of you, of his family and of the man himself, of course (not that I’ve thought about much else in those last couple of weeks anyway). Love from Germany.

The craft of a songwriter is to speak to thousands all at once, yet make the listener feel that they are being spoken to personally, uniquely, as if it were a conversation. Colin had such ability…and he had it in spadefuls!

I am on the final leg of a 4,000 mile journey to say my goodbyes to arguably the greatest musical artist of the past 50 years.

Colin’s songs evoke joyfulness and sadness, hope and belief in the human spirit and fill the darkest winter days and the warmest of summer afternoons. We should all be thankful that we have lived during the era when Colin was here to showcase his astounding talent.

His departure will be hurting those close to him much more than myself. The nearest I came to meeting him was in a concert hall from 30 feet away. But that doesn’t mean that many like me will struggle to hold it together in Liverpool this evening.

If you see a 50 something in black jumper, black jacket, black jeans trying to appear unmoved in the cathedral (and failing), that’s me.

So I sit on the floor, with my head in my hands.

Have admired your music for so many years mate. Songwriting genius with a fantastic voice, completely humble in person and always very witty. We all have hearts of clay today but will never forget you and your incredible work, will continue to listen to your art for ever more.

Can’t believe you are gone Colin I have loved you always. Had the extreme pleasure to meet you after a gig three years ago lovely lovely man RIP Colin xxxxx

I was so shock when I see the posts on Black’s youtube videos, i did not know he was passes away three weeks ago.
Back in the 80’s, I was a radio DJ in Taipei Taiwan. I played 80’s music from UK, and was a big fan of Black’s “Wonderful Life “, “Paradise”, and many other songs. In 1992, when I left Taiepi to pursuit Master Degree in USA, the very last song I played on gthe radio, was “Wonderful Life”. I didicated the song to all my listeners, wished them have wondeful life.
So this song means so much to me in my DJ and music career. I am so sad to learn this tragic news.
Thank you for bringing us so many beautiful songs, we will never forget you.

J’ai appris sa mort lors de l’émission les années bonheur de Patrick Sébastien ( du 26 mars qui lui a rendu hommage) j’ai eu beaucoup de peine .

I have just known about his death. I love his music… What a wonderful, wonderful life and music!
My condolences to his family. May God bless him.

I am not European but listened to black forever and still only two months from his tragic passing, I listen to his music everyday one of my favorites. May he Rest in Peace and his Family have Peace as well. ??

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