Big Country star found hanged

Adamson formed The Skids but hit the big time with Big Country.

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Stuart Adamson, former lead singer of Scottish rock band Big Country, was found hanged in a Hawaii hotel room, U.S. authorities have said.

The 43-year-old guitarist, who had global hits in the 1980s, was found dead on Sunday in his room at the Best Western Plaza Hotel near Honolulu International Airport, police said.

Adamson was positively identified through fingerprints, The Associated Press reported.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner said on Monday that he died of asphyxiation from hanging. Toxicology tests were being carried out to determine if he had taken drugs.

Honolulu police told Reuters a maid discovered Adamson's body about 1 p.m. local time with a rope around his neck and tied to a pole in the closet.

Adamson's manager Ian Grant said on Monday: "I have just lost one of the finest people I have ever worked with or been lucky enough to know.

A statement on the Web site of Grant's record label, Track Records, said: "I cannot believe I am sitting at my desk typing this. Stuart Adamson was found dead in a hotel room in Hawaii yesterday. I have no more news other than that at present. I ask the media to leave his family alone in their grief. My heart goes out to his family, Bruce, Mark and Tony."

"He was a great guy and, I know there will be a lot of people will feel the same way," Grant said.

Toured with Stones

British media said Adamson had been fighting alcoholism. Big Country's guitar-driven formula helped them to a string of British hits in the 1980s, including "In a Big Country" and "Fields of Fire."

The band sold more than 10 million records, had seven hit albums and 17 top 30 singles in Britain, the group's publicist said.

Adamson moved to the United States in the late 1990s after the hits dried up. He sparked widespread press speculation over his health in November 1999 when he failed to turn up for a British concert supporting Canadian singer Bryan Adams.

Born in Manchester, north-west England and brought up in Scotland, Adamson's early career began in Fife, Scotland in the 1970s when he formed punk band The Skids.

Adamson went on to form Big Country in the early 1980s. The band earned two Grammy Award nominations for the 1983 album "The Crossing" and went on to tour with the Rolling Stones.