A Crouch End-based music promoter has died after a long battle with cancer.
Dad-of-three Barry Marshall-Everitt, 69, died at the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead on Easter Sunday.
In a career spanning several decades, he promoted acts including The Shires and Joe Bonamassa, managed a tour by rock Giants T Rex in the 1970s and even helped David Bowie record a still-unreleased set.
He and his wife Bex had been campaigning for funds to take Barry for alternative treatment in either the USA or Mexico, raising £19,000 of their £35,000 target.
But with his death, Bex said the money will instead go to his funeral costs – and to keep alive his House of Mercy radio and TV show, which championed touring musicians.
She said: “Sadly after a monstrous battle and rapid decline last week, Barry passed away on Easter Sunday,” adding that he was being treated by a private cancer clinic.
The House of Mercy shows, she said, would be continued “in his memory” because supporting artists was something he dedicated his life to.
“This is one of the things he was hugely admired and cherished for in his life and remembered for now,” she said.
She added: “Thank you all again for your messages of love and sympathy and RIP BARRY MARSHALL-EVERITT xxx”.
Barry was diagnosed with urethral cancer in spring 2016.
In January, he told the Ham&High: “I’m quite far down the line now – I’ve had four major operations, maximum radiotheraphy, plenty of chemotherapy.
“It’s the most nasty, aggressive thing I’ve ever come against. But I’m an old rock’n’roller with real passion and I’ll never say ‘No’.”
His hope hinged on being treated with immunotherapy, but he was unable to raise the initial £200,000 needed to go the USA and ultimately unable to raise the £35,000 needed to go to Mexico – despite the couple selling many of their possessions.
Both Bex and Barry heavily criticised the NHS, branding his treatment “reactive” and accusing UCLH of taking too long to diagnose him.
In January, he attacked the Whittington Hospital after he was rushed to A&E with sepsis.
He told the Ham&High then that he was “shoved in a corner for 16 hours” while waiting to be seen, adding: “It was a turmoil – nobody had time for me, nobody paid me any attention”.
The Whit rejected he had spent 16 hours on a trolley, explaining he had been moved into a small room before being treated, but apologised for the long delay.
Later, at the beginning of April, Bex said the couple had instructed medical negligence lawyers to investigate Barry’s treatment by UCLH.
She said he was passed around by doctors, prescribed Sudocrem and ridiculed when in vital need of diagnosis.
Bex – a blues musician – said she was “furious”, adding: “It’s been a complete mess”.
She also said: “I can’t believe nobody else saw this early on. If they caught it then it would be so much different.”
The hospital said it was sorry Barry was “less than pleased”, adding: “[He] presented with an unusual set of symptoms which required several investigations to determine a diagnosis of an extremely rare condition.”
There will be a service for Barry at 2pm on May 5 at the Islington and Camden in High Road, East Finchley.
On Thursday, there will be a gig in King’s Cross by band Curse of Lono at the Water Rats in Grays Inn Road.
Cash raised at the event – which begins at 7pm – will go towards Barry’s funeral costs and his House of Mercy show.
To buy tickets, go to billetto.co.uk/en/e/curse-of-lono-the-water-rats-the-midnight-barbers-kate-ellis-tickets-181707To donate to Barry’s fund, go to gofundme.com/barrycancerfund
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here