Flintshire choir helps fulfil Mike Peters’s last wish with Welsh St David’s Day track
Classical singer Rhys Meirion has recorded a Welsh-language version of a song by The Alarm’s Mike Peters, fulfilling a request the late frontman made one month before his death in April 2025.
The track features Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir alongside Mike’s sons Dylan and Evan, and was recorded at Sain Studio.
Mike, who was from Prestatyn and fronted The Alarm for four decades, sent Rhys a message asking him to create a Welsh version of his song St David’s Day.
The original was written for the musical Flesh and Blood, performed at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff in 1999.
A programme following the recording, Neges Olaf Mike Peters, airs on S4C at 20:30 on St David’s Day, 1 March.
It will also be available on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer with Welsh and English subtitles, and the full song will be released on S4C’s YouTube channel.
Osian from Y Candelas and Aled, bassist with Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog, also contributed to the recording.
Rhys Meirion said Mike was “quite the hero” for him.
“Over the years, Mike and I had become friends, after our paths crossed on many occasions, which is possibly unusual for a classical singer like me, and a rock singer like Mike,” he said.
“Mike had been battling cancer for over 30 years, and despite that, he always had a smile on his face, and that was a great inspiration to me when I had my own cancer diagnosis.”
Mike’s wife Jules Peters said: “I’m sure it’s going to be emotional. I’m not quite sure what to expect, but I’m looking forward to it. St David’s Day is an emotional song at the best of times and whenever I hear it, it would always move me to tears, there’s something in the cord changes. I hope there’s some tissues at hand when I hear it back.”
Mike Peters had a long connection with the Deeside area.
The Alarm’s track Deeside, co-written with bassist Eddie Macdonald, appeared on the band’s Strength album in October 1985.
Macdonald later described it as “the best song Mike Peters and I ever wrote together.
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