Russell Churney

Churney died of pancreatic cancer, aged 42. A memorial concert was held in his honour on 29 June 2008. It was entitled The Lovely Russell, and featured such performers as Barb Jungr, Sandi Toksvig, Fascinating Aïda, Julian Clary and many others. All were friends or associates of Russell, with the exception of Sylvester McCoy, who donated one of his prop hats from his character in Doctor Who. The proceeds of the concert went to Russell's favourite charities.

He also recorded the albums One Last Flutter with Fascinating Aida and Back With You with Dillie Keane. He composed original scores for films including One Minute Past Midnight (directed by Celia Galan Julve, 2004) and the Channel 4 documentaries Return Trip (dir Carol Morley) and The Alcohol Years (directed by Carol Morley, 2000).

With Des de Moor (like Jungr, a chansonnier, or singer of chansons), he devised and performed in Darkness and Disgrace: Travels with a Wild-Eyed Alien from Bromley, a show directed by Jungr and based around songs by David Bowie. Churney and de Moor also recorded an accompanying album Darkness and Disgrace: Des de Moor and Russell Churney Perform the Songs of David Bowie (2003), featuring Jungr.

He recorded the album Durga Rising (1997) with Jungr and percussionist Kuljit Bhamra, and he performs on Jungr's albums Bare (1999), Chanson: The Space in Between (2000), and Every Grain of Sand: Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan (2002).

Russell Churney (10 September 1964 – 27 February 2007) was an English composer, pianist, arranger and musical director. He was also a member of the comedy/cabaret group, Fascinating Aïda. His sister is Ooberman keyboardist and vocalist Sophia Churney.