Missing Singer Safe and Well

Article		Author Unknown (BBC News, November 29, 1999)
		The missing lead singer of Scottish rock band Big Country is believed to be safe and well in New Orleans. The group's bassist, Tony Butler, said on Thursday evening he had heard from a "reliable source" that Stuart Adamson, 41, was in the Louisiana city. He added: "Stuart is in New Orleans. I heard that second-hand but it's a reliable source "He's fine. He's safe and well." Adamson had been due to fly to Scotland on Thursday from his Nashville home to play two concerts supporting Canadian rocker Bryan Adams. But Big Country were forced to pull out of the concerts—one in Aberdeen, the other in Glasgow. Adamson had also been scheduled to sing two songs for the annual children's charity Children in Need on BBC TV on Friday. A spokesman for the band said: "Adamson was last heard of on Thursday, November 18 when he spoke to his record company. "He was very concerned about the changes in his life." Adamson has lived in the Tennessee city since moving to the USA with his girlfriend after he and Scottish wife Sandra parted. Speaking from her home in Dunfermline, the singer's estranged wife was baffled by the missing persons report. She said on Thursday evening: "I spoke to him last night, and he was fine. "He phoned me from where he was supposed to be - Tennessee. I'm amazed to hear this." Big Country was founded in Adamson's home town of Dunfermline, Fife. The band had a string of hits during the 1980s following the massive success of their debut album, The Crossing. The group had just released a new album and were scheduled to start a 10-day UK tour which would have finished in Aberdeen on 31 December, when they were due to take part in the city's millennium celebrations. Their chart fortunes faded over the years, but they were still a popular live act, backing The Kinks' Ray Davies at 1997's Glastonbury Festival. The group had recently signed a deal to tour in Japan, their first trip there since 1984.