R.I.P. — Uli Jon Roth’s younger brother / guitarist Zeno Roth passes away at age 61

R.I.P. — Uli Jon Roth’s younger brother / guitarist Zeno Roth passes away at age 61

Sad news in the Uli Jon Roth camp as his younger brother Zeno Roth passed away after battling years of illness. Zeno was born on June 30, 1956

The following message was posted on Uli Jon Roth‘s Facebook page earlier today:

“Dear Friends, Dear Fans of Zeno!

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I must inform you that my dear brother Zeno Roth passed away yesterday, on Feb 5, 2018. He died in his sleep after years of illness and finally moved on to a much better place.

Speaking on behalf of all his family and friends, this is a tremendous loss, both on a human level, but also because Zeno was a true and incredibly gifted artist. We will always remember his songs, poetry and beautiful guitar playing. As a brother, I remember him as a gentle caring soul with the deepest feelings, but also as a person of great humour and wit. His song-writing abilities were of the first order. He was a truly outstanding guitar player and his talent for poetry was simply incredible and on the highest level imaginable, which was particularly evident in those poems which he had written in his mother tongue of German. Fortunately for us, he left us many of these precious gem stones and we shall publish a collection of his poems posthumously in due course.

Just before he died, Zeno was working on three brand new songs which he played to me in a demo version before Christmas and I was amazed at what I heard, because he had reached a new plateau and his playing was better than ever, miraculously, despite his debilitating illness. We will try to finish these songs and release them because they are worth hearing and contain a lot of magic and beauty. To all the fans of Zeno worldwide, I want to say thank you on his behalf, I want to say thank you on his behalf, his son Shion, Naoko, his girlfriend Indu and his family, and that of his closest friend and band member, Ule W. Ritgen for all your support and loyalty. God bless Zeno’s soul!”

Wikipedia states the following about Zeno Roth also known as Hans Joakim Roth (with slight edits):

“In the 1970s, Roth and Ule W. Ritgen formed Black Angel in Hanover, and played together for a few years while attending university. After the band, which played music influenced by Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, etc., broke up in 1977, Ritgen played bass in the band of Zeno‘s brother, Uli Jon Roth, appearing on three Electric Sun albums. By 1980, Zeno Roth and Ule Ritgen were again working together, now playing in a more melodic style. They were joined by Michael Flexig on vocals, and the band was named ZENO.

Their first (Self titled) album was released in 1986. Zenology, was released in 1995, with songs that had been composed in the non-active period. A third album, Listen To The Light, was released in 1998. In April 1999, the band signed with Toshiba EMI (EMI Music Japan).

In the annual reader’s pop poll of 1998 by Burrn! magazine, Listen To The Light was voted No. 2 as an album, and Zeno Roth reached the position No. 2 (guitarist) and No. 3 (songwriter). “Meet Me At The Rainbow” reached No. 9 as a tune. In 2000, Roth re-released the first three albums, with bonus tracks, on a set called The Making Of ZENO. A compilation of previously unreleased material, Zenology II, was released in 2004.

In September 2006, the new studio album Runway To The Gods was released.

Again, Zeno Roth is voted No. 2 as a guitarist in the annual Burrn! poll 2006.”