Fans are paying tribute to Viola Beach on the 10th anniversary of their deaths.
On February 13, 2016, singer/guitarist Kris Leonard, guitarist River Reeves, bassist Tomas Lowe and drummer Jack Dakin of the Warrington band were killed with their manager Craig Tarry when their tour vehicle plunged into a canal in Sweden. An inquest into their deaths found that they did not suffer.
Today (Friday February 13) marks a decade since the tragedy, and fans of the band have taken to social media to mark the occasion by paying tribute.
“It’s 10 years today since we lost Kris, River, Tom, Jack & Craig. They’re forever in our hearts,” a post on the band’s official Instagram account reads. “Never to be forgotten.”
Fans have paid respects to the band in the comments, with one writing: “Still listen to these boys to this day! Absolute legends. They will never be forgotten.”
One fan also wrote: “Still listen to their music and often think about them”, while another added: “Still as relevant today as they were 10 years ago. I can hear the influence of Viola Beach in so many bands that are about today.”
Another fan took to X to share: “10 years ago i got to see Viola Beach in a small venue in Dublin supporting Blossoms, met these lovely men who were only on the way up only for that journey to be taken away 10 days later. Gone, but never to be forgotten.”
Read more tributes below.
We’re remembering Viola Beach 10 years on from their tragic passing.
Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin, along with their manager Craig Tarry, were killed during an overseas tour.
The band remain in the hearts of the entire town via their plaque at Parr Hall. pic.twitter.com/t0YH1DbZA5
— We Are Warrington (@WeAreWarrington) February 13, 2026
Never forgotten. RIP Viola Beach and their devoted manager Craig Tarry, who passed away 10 years ago today. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/kSRqf0H85W
— gigsandtours (@gigsandtours) February 13, 2026
10 years ago i got to see Viola Beach in a small venue in Dublin supporting Blossoms, met these lovely men who were only on the way up only for that journey to be taken away 10 days later. Gone, but never to be forgotten💚 https://t.co/mb3KSpSHVU
— JohnPaul (@JohnPaulMelady) February 13, 2026
NME‘s own tribute to the band, published back in 2016, read: “Viola Beach’s legacy may now be out of their own hands, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the last word on them has been written.”
In August 2016, their debut studio effort went to Number One in the UK albums chart.
It came after Coldplay played their song ‘Boys That Sing’ during their headline Glastonbury set that June, with Chris Martin saying that the late band “reminded us of ourselves in our early days”.
Other tributes from the music industry that summer included Blossoms playing a recording of the band during their secret set at Reading and Leeds festival that year, as well as Leeds Festival showing a heartfelt film about the band on the main stage screens.
In 2021, a cover of the band’s track ‘Swings And Waterslides’ was recorded by a collective of Warrington musicians to mark five years since the group’s four members and Tarry died.
That year, their families reflected on the band’s careers and lives in an interview with the BBC. Joanne Dakin, mother of 19-year-old drummer Jack, said: “They were living their dream. It’s a cliché, but they were. They were living a life less ordinary.
“They were doing really well, but they were still working really hard. They didn’t take things for granted,” she said.
Lisa Leonard, whose 20-year-old son Kris was the band’s frontman, said: “I want people to remember them having fun, because that’s what they were doing. I often think about how they must have felt that night. Things were finally coming together after all that hard work and commitment [and] they just wanted to share it with the world.”
Colin Tarry, father of 32-year-old manager Craig, said the band’s shared heritage was important to him. “They were from Warrington and that made him really excited. He wanted this band to put Warrington on the map.”
Rebecca Lowe, sister of the band’s 27-year-old bass player Tomas, said hearing Viola Beach on BBC Radio 1 for the first time was a huge moment. “I remember listening and thinking ‘they really have a chance here.’”
The following year, their debut album was released on vinyl for the first time, marking the fifth anniversary of the record’s official release.
