Michael "Mike" Edwards was born on May, 31st in Ealing, and was ELO's cellist from April 1972 to January 1975. He was educated at Ealing Grammar School and the Royal Academy Of Music. His musical debut was singing as a ragamuffin in a BBC version of Carmen when he was eleven. Later he played the cello at school concerts and made his musical training as a student of classical music.

His first professional gig was with ELO on their first ever gig in Croydon 16th April 1972. Mike Edwards was a great fan of Lennon/McCartney and Schubert and named Emanuel Feuermann as "one of the really great cellists". He used a cello made by Mathias Neuner the fifth (1832-1890) of Mittenwald, Germany and could also play treble viola and bass viola (viola de gamba). He won a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music. When he left ELO he tried to do something different, maybe he really became a postman(!), as he said in 1975 when he got involved with Zen-Buddhism and psychology. As a result of his religious ambitions he changed his name to Deva Pramada and released a double cassette album; entitled "Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet", under the name of Tim Brophy & Deva Pramada in 1992. Deva (Michael) composed the music and played all the keyboards.

He is actively involved in composing and choreography, producing work for "Sadlers Wells Opera" and "Covent Garden".

last modified: 26.02.2000