Fair Warning, the cult German hard rockers, announced the sad news three days ago that their guitarist Helge Engelke has passed away. He was 61 years old.
“With great sadness and heavy hearts, we have to let you know that our dear friend and guitarist Helge Engelke has unexpectedly passed away from complications of colon cancer, which was discovered just two days earlier.”
“As far as we and the band are concerned, this is a huge loss. We’ve lost a friend, a colleague, and a gifted artist full of new ideas and concepts. We’ll miss him deeply. Our thoughts are with his wife Olatz and daughter Maialen at this time.”
Helge Engelke joined the quintet as guitarist soon after Fair Warning formed in 1991. Between 1992 and 2016, he put out eight studio albums with the band. He also appears on all five of their live albums, plus EPs and compilations. In 2001 he founded Dreamtide and released four albums with them up to 2022. Helge was hugely respected in German hard rock and heavy metal circles. Besides being regarded as an excellent guitarist, he was famed above all for his production chops and his feel for song arrangement.
In the photo: Helge Engelke during Fair Warning’s set on July 29, 2017, at the German festival Rock Of Ages in Seebronn (RockLine photo archive 2006-2023, all rights reserved). You can read the full RockLine review of that festival day HERE.
