October 21, 2024 – 4:26 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) – Electric Light Orchestra, the 1970s and 80s group that brought classical influences to rock and pop in songs like “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Evil Woman”, will play their final show in London’s Hyde Park next July, organisers said on Monday.

Formed in Birmingham in 1970, ELO enjoyed a string of hit albums in the following two decades, including “Discovery” in 1979 and the science fiction-themed “Time” in 1981. Co-founder Jeff Lynne wrote all of the band’s material after 1972.

ELO had multiple line-ups, anchored by Lynne and drummer Bev Bevan as the only consistent members, before it disbanded in 1986.

Lynne, 76, reformed the group as Jeff Lynne’s ELO in 2014, playing at Hyde Park, alongside Richard Tandy, who had joined the band in 1972 as a bassist and went on to play keyboards. Tandy died in May.

Lynne, who is currently playing the “Over and Out Tour” in the United States, told London’s Times newspaper that Hyde Park was the “perfect place to do our final show”.

^{Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Mark Heinrich}