BLO guitarist, Berkley Jones, is dead

guitarist Berkley Jones

Musician, Berkley Jones who played the guitar in 70s rock band, BLO has died on Sunday in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

The Chairman of the Copyrights Society of Nigeria (COSON) Tony Okoroji, confirmed the news on Facebook on Monday.

“I was woken up this morning with the crazy news that one of the greatest guitarists the Nigerian nation has ever produced, the amazing Berkley Ike Jones has passed on in Asaba, Delta State. I screamed! It just could not be true so I called Emma Ogosi in Asaba and he too said it could not be true.

“He had not heard. Emma promised to run a check and call me back. Less than 5 minutes later, the phone rings and it was Emma. He said something about Berkley and low blood pressure! He confirmed the bad news. The mercurial Berkley Ike Jones has joined the saints…,” he wrote.

In an interview with explorepartsunknown.com published in October Berkley talked about how music helped him avoid conscription during the Biafran War.

“Music was our way to avoid getting involved in the war. We were lucky enough to provide entertainment for the soldiers and civilians—that kept us out of action. I lost cousins and uncles, though,”  he said.