Glasvegas bandmates fear for frontman missing for five days

Published on Wednesday 9 September 2009 11:20

THE frontman of Mercury nominees Glasvegas has been missing for five days, his bandmates said today.

Singer James Allan failed to appear at the award ceremony last night, prompting questions about the musician's health.

The band, nominated for their self-titled debut album, were due to perform at the Grosvenor Hotel in London, but called off their performance because of Allan's absence.

The band's guitarist, and Allan's cousin, Rab Allan told the Daily Record newspaper that he had not been seen since Friday, when the band flew into their native Glasgow from Italy.

The group, one of 12 acts nominated for the music prize for their debut album, are due to fly to Boston to support The Kings of Leon on their US tour in two days' time.

Rab Allan said: "He had been saying for ages that he needed a break. Everyone is panicking.

"We're not supposed to talk about it. He has been working really, really hard.

"I miss him. The message is: 'Please get in touch'."

Last night Rab Allan said his cousin was "unwell".

After joking that the singer was suffering from crabs, he said: "No, he's unwell so he can't be here."

Allan wrote all the songs on their debut album, noted for its kitchen-sink dramas about death, violence and social workers.

The band, formed in Glasgow in 2003, impressed the Mercury judges with their "bitter sweet sounds of classic rock 'n' roll", and "gloriously elegiac anthems of contemporary life".