BUTTE — Mike Peters, the frontman for the eighties rock band The Alarm, passed away recently. But 36 years ago, he and his band filmed a music video right here in Butte, Montana, forever cementing the Welsh rocker with the Mining City and some local fans.
“He just seems real genuine, real affable, and it was exciting to meet him because I’ve been a big fan of his since the mid-80s,” said longtime fan of The Alarm and Butte resident Kevin Olson.
Peters fronted the Welsh band The Alarm which had several hits in the 80s. In 1989, the band filmed a video for their single "Sold Me Down the River" in Butte. They filmed at several locations, including the Anselmo Mine, a home at 625 N. Main Street, and the Berkeley Pit.
Watch longtime Alarm fan Kevin Olson talk about meeting Mike Peters:
“He’s from Wales, so I think they had that association with the Butte kind of a mining culture,” said Olson.
Olson was able to meet Peters when he played a gig in Missoula in 2000.
“We took a picture with him and he said, ‘Well, grab on to my guitar.’ We’re kind of like, it’s like grabbing on to a relic,” said Olson.
Sold Me Down the River was one of the band’s biggest hits in the U.S. Peters battled cancer for nearly three decades before dying from the disease on April 28 at age 66.
