Boney M legend Liz Mitchell breaks silence on horror car crash and says ‘I thought I was going to die’
BONEY M singer Liz Mitchell has revealed she thought she was going to die in a terrifying car crash.
The 71-year-old singer, whose iconic group has sold over 100 million records, broke her wrist and suffered cuts and bruises when her car left the road after swerving to avoid a vehicle on the A47, Cambs, in July.
Liz needed to be freed from the stricken Mercedes, which was driven by her husband Thomas, by emergency services and was taken to Peterborough Hospital.
The legendary artist – who has just finished playing to sell-out crowds in the US – exclusively told The Sun: “It happened so quickly, and I really have very little memory of it – my husband Thomas has told me what happened.
“One minute we were driving normally and the next there was a vehicle heading very fast directly towards us. All I can remember is the car flying down a ditch, and the airbag hitting me in the face and chest. And yes, for a split second I thought this might be it.
“It was a terrifying moment, and I thank God we survived. And thank God we were driving a Mercedes.”
As Boney M’s original lead singer, Liz is the only woman to perform three tracks in the UK All-Time Best-Selling Top 20, and, last year, the group was crowned ‘the most successful black pop group ever’ by UK music industry experts.
She recently blasted the ‘abusive relationship’ between Boney M and the music industry, suggesting the group was never taken seriously or given the recognition they deserved.
In July she told The Sunday Times: “The group was put together in Germany after I moved to Berlin to join the musical Hair in the early 1970s. None of us had any idea if it was going to work, but after Daddy Cool was a hit in 1976 we were more successful than Abba for a time.
“We sold so many records that I’ve been in the Guinness World Records book for over 40 years. Sadly the business never acknowledged us.”
In the last two years, a Boney M TikTok Challenge featuring 1978 hit Rasputin inspired 8.93 million videos worldwide, with a total of 22 billion views.
The group featured in this year’s Windrush Top 20, which celebrated 75 years of British music influenced by the Windrush Generation, along with the likes of Billie Ocean, Soul II Soul, Stomzy and Craig David.
Liz has just completed a coast-to-coast US tour, including dates in New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
She added: “It’s wonderful that the songs still mean so much to so many people literally around the world. Music really does lift people up and take them out of the sad place.”