Dexy's Midnight Runners icon dies aged 66 after heartbreaking Parkinson's battle

Dexys Midnight Runners' founding member Andy Leek has died aged 66 after a battle with Parkinson's disease.

Andy joined in October 1979, performing as the band's pianist on early recordings such as the hit single Geno.

He went on to enjoy a successful solo career as a singer-songwriter with his track Say Something hitting number one in Lebanon during the civil war.

The musician's death was announced by his long-term partner Deborah Smith Lawrence, who he married on October 30.

Writing on Facebook, she said: "The poet Mary Oliver wrote 'Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable'. And the unimaginable has happened. My beautiful Andy left us on Sunday November 3.

"Mercifully he was held safe at Goscote Hospice, which is the most peaceful place I have known in my entire life. He received truly compassionate and loving care from people there.

"I was with him, by his side in those most fragile last moments and he died as he lived, courageously."

Deborah said that Andy was a "phenomenal" person, who lived with Parkinson's disease for almost 20 years after his diagnosis in 2008.

She continued: "He was by turns strong and gentle, funny and vulnerable, freedom-loving, fiercely creative, passionate and intelligent. Yet always so immensely loving, generous and authentic.

"His response to his diagnosis? To play music and to craft song. The album Waking Up the World was written in that maelstrom. I am grateful beyond words for the team at Derby who are exemplary in every way. Fiona, Caroline, Clare, Suzanne, Louise, Rob, Kaanthan.

"All of you, I pray you know how much your care meant to us both and that Andy loved you all. As people in our world hear the news, they tell me how much they loved him.

"He was a real character and they were inspired by the way he faced down his condition with consummate grace and grit. Naturally they tell me they are listening to his music and this he would treasure."

Deborah revealed that the couple had originally planned to tie the knot at Christmas, but ended up getting married just days before his death.

She said: "We were together for 35 years and being the bohemian souls we are, felt no need for the convention of marriage. Yet recently we wanted to wed and we were planning a Christmas Wedding.

"Tragically this was not to be and we were married on October 30 at Walsall Manor. I cannot convey how bittersweet this is, to have married and to have lost the love of my life within one week.

"Equally I have no words to convey the shock and the sorrow I feel. Yet I have the enduring love and a lifetime of the most amazing memories of being with such an exquisite man."

Deborah branded Andy her "soulmate, husband and best friend", adding: "Andy's incredible talent and musical legacy as a poet, songwriter, musician and a world class singer will endure.

"It's the album Eternity Beckons that touches me most right now. This magic is his gift to us all so please do as he bids, listen with an open mind and an open heart.

"God Bless You my darling. I am heartbroken but honoured to have been your woman, your best friend and your wife."

Andy famously left Dexys Midnight Runners just as his track Geno was reaching number one.

"I really hated being famous all of a sudden," he told Record Mirror at the time, adding that fame shouldn't impact his value as an artist.