Written by: Alex Green
Keni Richards, who played drums with Autograph and later went on to form a close friendship with Mark Lanegan has died.
The Iowa-born Richards was 60.
Devastated by the news that my brother Keni Richards has died. A true one of a kind human being. Such a sad, sad day
— mark lanegan (@marklanegan) April 12, 2017
A talented drummer, Richards played with the hard rock outfit throughout the ’80s, but Richards’ life remains one of the most fascinating rock and roll journeys you’ll ever hear.
Some highlights:
- Richards was David Lee Roth’s jogging partner.
- Autograph were signed by RCA’s Jose Menendez–who, along with his wife, would be killed by their sons Lyle and Eric Menendez.
- Richards met former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan in rehab and the two became best friends and musical collaborators.
- Richards played in The Tubes before joining Autograph.
- After Autograph, Richards formed a band with Earl Slick and he later played with Joe Cocker.
- He and Lanegan wrote a song for HBO’s “Eastbound And Down.”
- Richards was an incredibly talented painter.
- He was also close pals with Alice In Chain’s Jerry Cantrell.
In 2011 Richards told Legendary Rock Interviews about his partnership with Lanegan: “So here’s this heavy metal guy and this big grunge guy writing poetry and playing piano together. We wrote a bunch of songs together while we were inside that ended up being a classic, 5 star classic album called Scraps At Midnight.
Then I worked on an album called Field Songs with Mark, another GREAT record, worked with Duff from GNR, who co-wrote some stuff on there. I’ve played piano since I was little and we wrote songs and I played piano on the album. Mark is my best friend…most Autograph fans don’t know how great Mark Lanegan is…he’s a legend.”
