Today, June 8, 2026, Uriah Heep guitarist Mick Box turns 79.
He is a true phenomenon in the history of rock and the only constant member and founder of Uriah Heep since the band's inception in 1969 to the present day. After the passing of legends Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake in 2020, he also remained the last living musician from the band's iconic “classic lineup“.
As a young man in East London, Mick Box was extremely passionate about football and showed serious sporting talent. In the end, however, his love for music prevailed and he chose the guitar over a sports career. His first serious influences came from jazz icons such as Django Reinhardt, Les Paul and Wes Montgomery.
Before adopting the name of the iconic villain from Charles Dickens' novel “David Copperfield“, Mick Box and first vocalist David Byron played in a band called Spice. They chose this name deliberately because they did not want to be confined to narrow genre frames – they wanted their music to have many different “flavors“.
In 1975, during a tour in Louisville, USA, Mick fell drunk off the stage and broke a bone in his right hand. Instead of canceling the concerts, however, he showed true rock character – until the end of the tour, he was given three painkiller injections a day so he could go out and play every night.
Under the leadership of Mick Box, Uriah Heep became the first Western rock band to perform in the then closed USSR. In December 1987, they filled the Olympic Stadium in Moscow for 10 consecutive nights in front of a total of 180,000 rock fans. They were also among the first major bands to regularly visit Bulgaria - starting in 1988 and throughout the transition years.
Unlike most major rock stars who participate in dozens of side projects, Mick Box shows absolute loyalty. He has never recorded a solo album and has only guested on 4 albums by other artists in his entire adult life. All his creative genius is dedicated solely to Uriah Heep.
Mick Box still owns and keeps in his collection the first guitar he learned to play as a child. On stage, however, his trademark remains the expressive playing, the wah-wah effect and the characteristic hand gestures with which he seems to “conduct“ the audience. His personal life emblematic phrase is: ”’Appy days!” (Happy days!).
The band announced its big farewell tour, which will also pass through Sofia.