Lady in Black
Written in a single morning — acoustic, minor-key, built on a hypnotic two-chord drone. Decades later it's sung from the stands at German and Russian football matches and serves as an unofficial anthem across Eastern Europe.
◇ 1945 — 2020
Ken
Hensley
Songwriter · Keyboardist · Uriah Heep
"Lady in Black." "July Morning." "Easy Livin'." "The Wizard." He wrote the songs you already know by heart — a principal songwriter of British rock, quietly.
The final album · Coming soon
A Little Closer
Ken Hensley
His final album — at last. Ken recorded A Little Closer in the summer of 2019, his final solo studio album, originally scheduled for release in 2021. After all this time, it's finally on its way.
The Songs
Music you already know — with a name you may not.
Four enduring Hensley-penned songs. Press play for a short preview; click the story for the detail.
July Morning
The ten-minute progressive epic that became a Bulgarian cultural holiday. Every first of July, crowds gather on the Black Sea coast to watch the sunrise while the song plays — a Hensley song turned secular festival.
Easy Livin'
Uriah Heep's American breakthrough. Hensley wrote it in twenty minutes; it reached the Billboard Hot 100 and opened US radio to British progressive rock.
The Wizard
Co-written with Mark Clarke. The song that named the album, defined its Roger Dean cover, and turned the Hammond organ into a storytelling instrument at the heart of seventies rock.