Nik Turner is a British musician, probably best known as a founder of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner plays saxophones, flute, sings and is a composer.

Over the years Turner has played with many musicians and collaborations. Much of his output continued in the Hawkwind vein, but Turner has also explored other genres.

Directly after leaving Hawkwind in the mid 1970's, Turner formed a band with Steve Hillage of Gong.

In the late 1970s when Steve Took's Horns broke up he formed Inner City Unit (ICU) from the key Horns members: Judge Trev Thoms and Dino Ferari although Steve Peregrin Took (ex-T Rex) continued to work with his former band members and guested with ICU at a number of gigs.

Turner also worked with Twink under the name PinkWind , a group named by combining the monikers of the musicians' former groups: Turner's Hawkwind, and Twink and Steve Took's Pink Fairies. Mick Farren was also a member. PinkWind released two albums. Some line-ups also featured Judge Trev Thoms.

Turner has varied tastes in music and his bands reflect this. Recently his two main bands have been StaceRitual and Nik Turner's Allstars with flexible and overlapping line-ups (as was the case in the early 1970s with Hawkwind and the Pink Fairies.) At some of his gigs former Hawkwind members guest including Ron Tree and, until his death, Robert Calvert.

Turner regularly plays with new and experimental musicians and also busks near his home.

External links

• Nik Turner's official site
• Space Ritual's Official Site