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The tragic history of the Miami Showband is back in focus with the release of My Saxophone Saved My Life by Des Lee, written with Ken Murray.

The memoir recounts Lee’s survival of the Miami Showband Massacre on July 31, 1975 — a night when UVF gunmen murdered three of his bandmates during a fake army checkpoint in Northern Ireland.

A Harrowing Night in 1975

The Miami Showband, one of Ireland’s most beloved groups, had just finished a performance in Banbridge, County Down. As they drove back toward Dublin, they were stopped by what appeared to be a British Army patrol. In reality, it was a UVF unit, some of whom also served in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR).

Their plan to plant a bomb under the minibus went horribly wrong when it exploded prematurely, killing two paramilitaries instantly. In the chaos, the gunmen opened fire on the band.

“First to die was Brian McCoy, shot in the back,” Lee recalls. Guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Fran O’Toole were also executed. O’Toole was shot 22 times; his wounds were so severe a doctor mistook him for a woman. Lee and bassist Stephen Travers survived by playing dead beside their murdered friends.

Watch Travers recount the night in this YouTube interview.

The Aftermath

Lee’s book does not shy away from describing the long-lasting psychological scars.

“Survivors don’t have the luxury of forgetting,” he writes. Travers was later diagnosed with enduring personality change, while Lee struggled with survivor’s guilt and alcoholism.

Music, however, remained his lifeline. “When I picked up my saxophone again, it wasn’t just music. It was life itself,” he says.

Lee and Travers have spent decades fighting for accountability and recognition. In the aftermath of the killings, several convictions were secured, including two UDR soldiers sentenced to life in prison. But many questions remain about collusion and state responsibility.

Lee himself testified in Belfast under extraordinary security. “I was helicoptered to and from the Irish border, with 24-hour protection,” he recalls. “I’ve been looking over my shoulder ever since.”

Miami Showband: A Lost Cultural Phenomenon

The massacre also struck at the heart of Ireland’s showband era. From the 1950s to the 70s, showbands were a unifying cultural force, bringing together Catholic and Protestant youth on dance floors across the country.

As journalist Eamonn Mallie once noted, “Showbands were the glue that held young people’s dreams together, no matter what side of the divide they came from.”