Family pays tribute to local music legend, Stuart Mey
"Not many people can say that they managed to live their dreams, fortunately my dad was one of them."
“MY dad was more than just an entertainer. He was also a family man and teacher; he loved bringing people together.”
These were the tender words of Melissa Sparks as she paid tribute to her father, Stuart Mey, nearly two weeks after his death.
Mey was best known as the founder of the popular corporate band, Larry and the Lounge Lizzards.
The 64-year-old who was confined to a wheelchair in recent years, passed away on 9 July due to health complications.
He had been battling kidney failure for many years.
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Sparks remembered her father fondly saying, “He was such a special person, and always happy.
“Not many people can say that they managed to live their dreams, fortunately my dad was one of them. Being on stage was my dad’s ultimate dream.”
Mey, a Durban North resident, started his first band, Vacant Lot at the age of 14 after launching The Trumpet Federation at the Durban High School in 1967. Later he performed in the band Pegasus.
After completing high school he studied teaching at Edgewood College where he met his wife, Zoë. They had been married for 39 years.
He taught English for five years at Northland’s Primary School, before he began producing and performing in tribute shows at the Durban’s Dockyard Theatre (which he owned) in the early 2000s.
He also worked in the banking industry for several years.
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When the Dockyard closed in 2009 he formed The Handsome Devils with musicians Bruce Boom (Four Jacks and a Jill), Ian Wells (Dickie Loader and The Blue Jeans), Gerald Knott (Larry and the Lounge Lizards and Third Eye), Ian Webster (Pink Champagne, Lincoln and Bite) and Gary Gibb (Pinnacle and Bent Penny).
“My dad was the softest most kind-hearted person. He didn’t really like to be the centre of attention, but he loved people. He really did turn strangers into families. Both my sister, Nicky Knott, and I met our husbands, Wayde and David, because of my dad,” she said.
Mey leaves behind his wife, daughters and granddaughter, Gabriella.
“At the end of every show he would say ‘goodnight, God bless and goodbye. And always listen to the music,” said Sparks.
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