Nik Turner is a British musician from Oxford, born in 1940 and died in 2022. He is best known as the co-founder, singer and saxophonist of Hawkwind, a role that places him at the centre of the band’s early development and sound.

Hawkwind

Turner co-founds Hawkwind with Dave Brock in 1969 after first working with the group as a roadie. Once the band learns that he plays saxophone, he joins as a member and becomes an important part of their most popular period in the early 1970s. He writes and sings a number of the band’s well-known songs, including Master of the Universe. His work with Hawkwind includes flute, saxophone, vocals and composition.

He leaves the group in 1976. Turner later returns in 1982 and stays for two further years before leaving again in 1984. His departures and returns are linked to a long-running dispute with Brock.

Other projects

After his first period with Hawkwind ends, Turner performs as a solo artist and helps form the psychedelic punk band Inner City Unit. He later leads his own groups and works with other former Hawkwind musicians. At different points he performs as the Nik Turner Band and the Nik Turner Fabulous All Stars.

After using the name xHawkwind for his own group, he becomes involved in a name dispute, and the band later takes the name Space Ritual, after Hawkwind’s best-known live album.

Later collaborations and releases

In 2008, Turner joins the Space Mirrors collective as a guest member and records flute and saxophone on three releases: Majestic-12: A Hidden Presence, Dreams of Area 51 and In Darkness They Whisper.

Associated acts and labels

Turner is also associated with Captain Lockheed & The Starfighters, Fast Breeder & the Radio Actors, The Imperial Pompadours, Hawklords, Nik Turner’s Sphynx, Uncle Nik & The E.T.’s and Pinkwind. His recordings appear on NIKT Records and Fruits de Mer Records. His work is linked to space rock, jam band and jazz rock, and his wider catalogue is also associated with psychedelic and experimental music.