Business News Obituaries

James McLaren 1978-2012

By | Published on Wednesday 8 August 2012

James McLaren

BBC Wales music journalist James McLaren was killed in a traffic accident on Monday. McLaren had been a well known figure on the Welsh music scene for nearly fifteen years, beginning his career in music journalism at Cardiff University student newspaper Gair Rhydd, before going on to work at Big Issue Cymru and then editing the Welsh Music Foundation’s magazine, Sound Nation.

When Sound Nation closed in 2005, McLaren joined BBC Wales, initially as a freelancer, and was eventually put in charge of the BBC Wales Music website.

In a statement, the Welsh Music Foundation paid tribute to McLaren yesterday, saying: “We at Welsh Music Foundation are shocked and saddened to hear of the death of James McLaren. James was one of the original WMF team – creating, editing and managing our monthly newsletter Sound Nation. His passion poured out of every issue, and with his energy, skill and enthusiasm he quickly became a popular figure in the Welsh music industry”.

BBC Cymru Wales director, Rhodri Talfan Davies, said: “”James was a talented assistant producer who joined BBC Wales six years ago. Most recently he worked on the successful launch of the new BBC Wales homepage and many of you will know him through his inspiring commitment to and support for Welsh music. His regular blogs on Welsh music for our online services showed a real love for his subject, an encyclopaedic knowledge, and a deep commitment to support new talent. I know that his lively personality, his inimitable sense of humour and his prodigious talents will be sadly missed by all those who worked with him. Our thoughts are with his family, colleagues and friends at this difficult time”.

Yesterday another of his colleagues, Joe Goodden, took to the BBC Wales blog, which McLaren regularly updated with music news, to carry out the unenviable task of writing a tribute and an obituary, which you can read here.



READ MORE ABOUT: