Frida gave a very touching and emotional tribute to Jon Lord at the Zermatt Unplugged Festival who had sadly passed away the previous summer, on 16 July 2012.  It was captured on private footage.

She said:

"Thank you. This is very emotional as you can understand, but I will try my best.

Vickie, Amy, Sara, Jacky, Ian* .... When Jon wrote the piece Pictured Within, he said, "This is a song I wrote about all sorts of things, my beliefs, my journey, this is my life".  That could equally have been a description of The Sun Will Shine Again, the song he wrote to put music to my sadness, grief at a time of great dsitress in my life. 

I first met Jon in Zermatt. We instantly bonded and he became one of my dearest friends. He was graceful, intelligent, polite, with a strong integrity. He did not waste his time on trivia, but had a strong empathy and a great deal of humour for his own and other people's weaknesses. Within him, his soul flourished. He was gifted with a never-ending creativity, searching for the notes he would put together to wonderful pieces of music which he then executed with pride and joy. He was always a friend one missed when it was a too-long break between meetings.

When he did not write music, he appreciated being with his wonderful family and it was always so good when, as a friend, you had an opportunity and a privileged to sit around the table with them for long and happy meets. I'm sorry. He was a wonderful person to be around, to chat and laugh with and one always felt spiritually uplifted after seeing him.

Now we have our memories of this brilliant human being to share and at times, when the thoughts of missing him gets too strong, we can escape into the world of his beautiful music and get confident with knowing that he will always be with us.

To my pianist and pal, my fellow patron for Zermatt Unplugged, one of the great guys, I will always be proud of having had you as my friend, Jon and I will miss you endlessly. And as you always said when parting, "God Bless".  Thank you."


*Vickie = Vickie Lord, Jon's wife
Amy = Amy Lord, Jon and Vickie's daughter
Sara = Sara Lord, Jon's daughter
Jacky = Jacky Paice, Jon's sister-in-law and twin of Vickie
Ian = Ian Paice, Jon's brother-in-law and drummer with Deep Purple

Zermatt Unplugged (Frida), 2010;
Zermatt Unplugged (Frida), 2011;
Zermatt Unplugged (Frida), 2013;

Thanks to Julian Körner and Steve Layton.
YouTube link c/o Hidasnemety