“I want to die with a million miles on my meter,

I want to die with well-used and worn tyres”

In The Land Of The Harley Davidson, Mary Cigarettes, 2011

It’s been a month or so since the death of the extraordinary singer-songwriter Mary Cigarettes; today I’m marking his passing with this selection from his Youtube channel.

It was great to hear the inclusion of an obituary for Mary, who had recorded as Gregory Gray and was born Paul Lerwill, on last week’s Last Word. This featured contributions from his champions Tom Robinson and Noel McLaughlin; they both participated in a Dave Fanning tribute along with my old mucker Gavin Martin which can be found here.

Mary contacted me a few years back after he visited the Derek Boshier exhibition I curated at Flowers Cork Street; we came to know each other via a mutual friend, the artist Robert Rubbish. Like many others I became intrigued by his remarkable life and prodigious output: the pungent Instagram presence, the films, his blog and the strange and delightful garden/art installation he cultivated at the home he shared with his husband Thomas in Hertfordshire.

Mary clocked up those million miles and more. Like the passing of others who have recently gone too soon, the world is a little less interesting in his absence, but there remains the music, always the music…

Sayonara Mary.

Tags: Cork Street, Derek Boshier, Flowers Gallery, Gavin Martin, Gregory Gray, Mary CIgarettes, Paul Lerwill, Rosetta Stone, Tom Robinson