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Les McKeown’s widow has candidly reflected on the late Bay City Rollers legend’s funeral, revealing she ‘cried until morning’ following the private service.
Peko Keiko, who was married to the musician for more than 30 years, added that the ’cause of death is not yet known’ and she ‘wants to know’ in a lengthy Facebook post.
The frontman, 65, passed away in April and a small ceremony was held at the City of London Crematorium in East London on Sunday, with only 30 mourners able to attend because of Covid regulations.
Candid: Les McKeown’s widow has reflected on the late Bay City Rollers legend’s funeral, revealing she ‘cried all night’ following the private service (pictured together in 2005)
Taking to social media on Tuesday, Peko told fans and friends that she was sorry she couldn’t tell everyone about Les’s funeral.
Speaking of the ceremony which saw Trainspotting author and Les’ friend Irvine Welsh deliver a eulogy, she wrote: ‘May 23rd The funeral was successfully completed
‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when the funeral. We are back home Jubei and I. We cried until morning.
‘We are decided to send it to the end with a smile on the people who came. Thanks everyone. Finished quietly peace For my husband Leslie.
Couple: Peko Keiko, who was married to the musician for more than 30 years, added that the ’cause of death is not yet known’ in a lengthy Facebook post shared on Tuesday
‘Please understand I want to share with everyone I bought it but it’s a pandemic and I can’t read the number of 30 people only. I know you want [to say] goodbye…….’
Speaking about the private service, Les’ widow revealed that his songs Goodbye and Danny Boy were included and thanked fans for their support.
Peko added: ‘The cause of death is not yet known we want know.’
She then signed off the message saying: ‘Jubei and I keep in touch. Thank you for supporting BCR Les for a really long time, ARIGATO Jubei & Peko xxxxxxx’
Les’ funeral service was filled with his music, with the Bay City Rollers tune Don’t Let The Music Die opening the ceremony before his wife and son paid tribute with a lighting of candles ritual.
Tribute: Peko thanked fans for their support and apologised for not telling everyone when the funeral was happening as she revealed some of Les’ songs were included in the private service
Support: Peko stayed by her husband’s side for three decades and recently admitted their love affair survived against the odds (pictured in an undated snap shared in the Facebook tribute)
An order of service shared by The Daily Record also revealed that after Irvin’s tribute, live music was provided by Les’ bandmates Scott McGowen and Phil Hendricks, who performed the song Killing The Blues.
Peko, who met the Scottish Bay City Rollers singer in 1978 and married each other soon after, always forgave him for his vices including affairs with at least 12 male partners and numerous women.
By his own admission, Les, who died in April aged 65 of a suspected heart attack, said in an interview before his death: ‘She could have kicked my a**e right out the door a long time ago.’
And when he was seeing a therapist for his addiction problems, Les claimed that, aged just 19, he was raped by another man during the height of his Rollers fame.
Family: Peko also said that their son Jubei paid tribute to his father during the ceremony on Sunday (pictured in a snap dated as July 2008)
Celebration of his life: The order of service featured spots of tartan and tributes from Les’ pals and family inbetween lots of musical breaks
Big send off: Les’ friend Irvine Welsh delivered a eulogy and several of the performers’ songs were included in the event (Les is pictured in 2016)
His marriage was on the rocks because of his philandering and he would drink two bottles of Wild Turkey bourbon a day along with piles of cocaine that the singer admitted turned him into ‘a complete b*****d’ for many years. She stood by him while caring for their son, Jubei, and then helped her husband beat drink and drugs.
Many said he was cursed after he ran over and killed an elderly neighbour, Euphemia Clunie in 1975, only paying a £150 fine and getting a year’s ban from driving. He was later accused – but cleared – of wounding a teenage fan shot in the forehead with an air rifle outside his home.
Speaking around ten years ago Les had said he was secretly gay for 30 years, but loyal Peko had always forgiven him and stayed with him despite dwindling money, which had seen them living together in an east London flat.
He always maintained they should have lived on a Scottish estate with a £20million – but insisted he was ripped off in a royalties row.
Musician: Les (back left) was parachuted in aged 18 to join the band after Nobby Clark left
He said in 2009: ‘Peko’s an incredible woman. There have been times when she’s forgiven me for cheating with other women. This gay thing has been really hard for her to confront. She has been a big rock holding the family together and I’m lucky to have her.’
He added: ‘God know why she’s put up with me for this long, she could have kicked my a**e right out the door a long time ago.’
He continued ‘We went through a bit of a rough patch but then we got back together again and everything is good now, I don’t want to change things round in my life now. I met her in 1978 and we’ve been going out ever since’.
And describing how Peko saved him and got him into rehab, he said in 2015: ‘The wife got to me just in the nick of time. I got an offer of a rehabilitation programme at the Passages Centre in California and I didn’t want to refuse it – although, I didn’t really want to go, either. I was supposed to be there for two weeks and stayed for four months. When I came back from it I said sorry to everyone I had p***** off’.
Sad news: In a message on social media, the singer’s wife and son expressed their ‘profound sadness’ as they announced his passing in April
After his death, Peko revealed for the first time the ups and downs of their turbulent marriage following the death of the singer from a suspected heart attack.
Speaking from her London home just days after the singer died, she paid tribute to her late husband and admitted their love affair had survived against the odds.
She also explained why she made him keep the first of two weddings, London, a secret so that they could hold a second traditional Buddhist ritual on a Japanese mountaintop, for which the pop icon shaved his head.
Peko admitted she didn’t have a clue that her husband was a famous pop star and hadn’t seen him sing until after they were married.
She also told how he flirted and asked her for a date when he turned up for a meeting at a Sushi bar where she was working as the manager.
Strong through it all: Peko (pictured with Les in 2006) forgave him for his many affairs, with Les admitting he had been a ‘complete b***ard’ due to drink and drugs
Acknowledging the turbulent times together – including dealing with the singer’s drug, alcohol addictions and his affairs with other men – grief stricken Peko said: ‘I met Leslie when he was working as a manager in a Japanese sushi restaurant that had a Karaoke bar in the basement in London. He said, ‘Hello Suzie Woo’ and that was it.
‘Leslie said to me, ‘Would you like to go for a movie after dinner?’ I said, no I can’t go to the movie, I have a job. Then he gave me his card and wrote his number on the back. I put it in my pocket. I didn’t call for a long time. I didn’t know he was in the Bay City Rollers. I was not interested in the Bay City Rollers because it wasn’t my taste. I like rock.’
The pair began dating in 1978 and eventually moved in together, but only after she had told him their long distance relationship couldn’t work.
But Les was determined they should stay together. In a last ditch effort to save the relationship, he asked her to spend time with him in the US.
But when she flew to spend a week with him in Los Angeles he served her with an ultimatum, with her eventually agreeing to fly to the US after three weeks.
After that trip, Les surprised Peko by declaring they were getting married one day as she recalled: ‘One day when I was sleeping Les woke me up and said, ‘Peko wake up, wake up, come on, we are going to get married today.’ I just woke up and he kept saying, come on, get going. I said, ‘But I have to tell my Mummy and Daddy first.’
‘But Leslie kept insisting and told me that he had already taken my passport and registered for us to marry at Chelsea Town Hall on the Kings Road.’
They tied the knot but they both made a vow to keep the wedding a secret for the sake of her parents.
She continued: ‘Because my mother and father were not at our wedding we went to Japan and had a traditional Buddhist blessing. My father was a Buddhist monk at Iwayadera Shrine so the blessing was there and he conducted the ceremony.
‘To respect my father Les shaved his hair for the ceremony. We both wore traditional wedding kimonos. We had close family and friends. I remember most about the day was telling my father not to cry because he was so proud.
Singer: Les (pictured second from left) was born in Edinburgh to Irish parents and was known for his romantic lyrics and Tartan-clad fashion
‘I feel guilty about that. Les spoke in Japanese in the ceremony and we were trying not to laugh.’
Les, passed away at his home aged 65, had first met at the height of the Rollers’ fame where they sold 100million records and millions of teenagers had the band’s posters on their walls in the 1970s.
But by the end of the decade the band was in ruins, wrecked by fights, drugs and alcohol, with pin-up McKeown only drafted in into the Bay City Rollers at the last minute to replace Nobby Clark, soon becoming the biggest star, causing rancour with his bandmates.
The band had a string of monster-selling singles followed, including Bye Bye Baby and Give a Little Love, both of which hit number one in 1975.
They were mobbed by fans everywhere they went; their tartan-trimmed flares were the fashion statement of the year.
And McKeown – parachuted into the band at the luckiest possible moment aged 18 -was the most lusted after pin-up of the lot. By 22 he had left.
The other key members of the iconic band Bay City Rollers
Eric Faulkner
Faulkner joined the Bay City Rollers in 1972 as their guitarist and was one of the main faces of the band over the years.
Faulkner joined the Bay City Rollers in 1972 as their guitarist and was one of the main faces of the band over the years
He co-wrote more than half of the recorded catalogue of Rollers songs including the ‘Money Honey’ and ‘Love Me Like I Love You’.
Faulkner also worked on a reformed version of the band in the 1990s.
In the last 10 years Faulkner has appeared at a number of music festivals including Parkfest and The Edinburgh Guitar and Music Festival.
According to a book by fellow Bay City Rollers star, Alan Longmuir, Faulkner had a major health scare in 2015 when he developed viral encephalitis – an inflammation of the brain.
In recent years, Faulkner has written his own folk music, which he posts for free, with an option of a donation, on his website.
Stuart Wood
Stuart Wood, known as ‘Woody’, was a guitarist in the Bay City Rollers. He joined in 1974, helping the band to make their breakthrough.
Stuart Wood, known as ‘Woody’, was a guitarist in the Bay City Rollers
After his success with The Rollers, Wood moved to South Africa and performed in a band called The Passengers, which became a chart topping success throughout the 1980s.
He later returned home to Scotland and in 2007 produced the debut album for Scottish folk duo the MacDonald Brothers.
Wood is still said to be active in music.
In a 2019 interview with the Sun, he said his biggest regret was not getting one last Saturday Night out with his late bandmate Alan Longmuir.
He said:’We had arranged to meet up but one thing led to another and we never got the chance.’
Alan Longmuir
Alan Longmuir was one of the founding members of the Bay City Rollers, along with his younger brother Derek. He played bass guitar.
Alan Longmuir was one of the founding members of the Bay City Rollers, along with his younger brother Derek
In 1976, at the height of the band’s popularity, Longmuir left and was replaced by Ian Mitchell, who was later replaced by Patrick McGlynn.
Longmuir returned to the group in 1978 following McGlynn’s departure.
He later became the owner of Castle Campbell Hotel in Dollar, Clackmannanshire, but suffered two heart attacks and a stroke.
Longmuir died, aged 70, in hospital in Scotland after contracting an illness while on holiday in Mexico.
The musician, who was born in Edinburgh, died at the Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert ‘surrounded by loved ones’ two weeks after being flown home.
Following his death his family said: ‘He brought so much love and kindness to everyone he met, and he leaves a huge hole in our family. He would humbly say he was ‘just a plumber from Edinburgh who got lucky’.
Derek Longmuir
Derek Longmuir was one of the founding members and the drummer for the Bay City Rollers.
Derek Longmuir was one of the founding members and the drummer for the Bay City Rollers
He started the pop group with his brother, Alan before retiring from music in the 1980s and training in nursing.
The drummer qualified in 1993 to work at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
However in 2000, the drummer was sentenced to 300 hours of community service after admitting possessing child pornography.
When police raided Longmuir’s home they found child pornography on videos, photographs and computer images.
The court heard how Lothian and Borders Police serious crime squad officers found the material after a tip-off.
Twenty-two videos out of 153 seized and six projector reels contained child porn.
Longmuir pleaded guilty to the offence, but maintained the offending materials did not belong to him and were instead left behind by an acquaintance.
Ian Mitchell
Ian joined the band in 1976, aged 17, replacing bassist Alan Longmuir – but left after seven months with the Scots group.
Ian Mitchell (pictured in 1976) joined the band, aged 17, replacing bassist Alan Longmuir – but left after seven months with the Scots group, dubbed as ‘tartan teen sensations’.
However the musician made a lasting impact with the band, with whom he recorded the hit Dusty Springfield cover ‘I Only Want to be With You’.
While with the Bay City Rollers Ian recorded one album, Dedication, in 1976, and had a hit cover of the Dusty Springfield song ‘I Only Want to be With You.’
The track reached number 12 on the US charts.
He also earned a mention in Friends in a 2001 episode when Monica and Chandler get engaged.
In it, Monica, played by Courteney Cox, says: ‘I want a string quartet for the processional, a jazz trio for cocktails and The Bay City Rollers for dancing.’
Chandler, played by Matthew Perry, then responds: ‘You couldn’t get The Rollers anyway as Ian doesn’t play any more.’
He left in late 1976 as the band’s popularity began to dwindle and was replaced by guitarist Pat McGlynn.
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