A GROUP of musicians from the world of blues and dance music have come together to record a charity single as a tribute to their friend, a great musician.

Nick Bell, a gifted blues guitarist, singer and ’70s tour manager for Badfinger and Deep Purple died in March this year at the age of 65 after a brave battle against pancreatic cancer.

He had spent many years in Southend, before retiring to his home village of Jordans, Buckinghamshire.

His best friend Richard Cornish, 54, a keyboard player for ‘90s dance band Taste Xperience, decided to release a song he recorded with Mr Bell in 2013 as a tribute to his friend and a way of raising money and awareness for two cancer charities.

He said: “The single has gone really well. I had a hard time losing my best friend, and my wife was diagnosed with cancer, topped with a 22-month-old baby and three kids between us.

“Nick and I did a lot together from recording music to opening a restaurant together in Leigh. When he died, I just thought, what can I do to help?”

Musicians from Mr Bell’s Southend-based band the Reeceders were keen to get involved too, as was Taste Xperience producer Russell Lee.

Other friends also generously gave their time helping with artwork, CD design and promotion.

Talking about the project, Mr Cornish, said: “The single is a ‘thank you’ to the hospice who cared so well for Nick and his family in his last few weeks of his life.

“I also wanted to raise awareness about my wife Rachael’s rare bile duct cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, which affects around 1,000 people a year in the UK.

“Rachel has amazed me how she has dealt with her cancer, and it is really important that people are aware of it. It was traditionally a cancer that 65-year-old males got but now all ages are affected.

“The song Foolish Though It Seems is about Rachael and was written shortly before we got married in May 2013. It was through our friendship with Nick that we met in 2011. It was a match made in heaven, a second chance at happiness neither had ever dreamed would be possible.

“For our story to have begun under the godfather-like eyes of Nick, it seemed only fitting that the song chosen to commemorate him was one we had recorded together in our studio all those years ago.”

Mr Cornish has already raised £1600 for the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity where Mr Bell spent the last couple weeks of his life and the Alan Morement Memorial Foundation, in aid of his wife.

The single will be released on Monday July 18, for more information, visit the Facebook page Nick Bell Charity Single 2016