Tag: Musician Death

Singer of Type O Negative Is Gone at 48

Posted by Kat – April 15, 2010

Man, talk about people that I hate to see leave the music world. Peter Steele, the lead vocalist and bassist of the heavy metal band Type O Negative, has passed away at age 58. Steele was the tall, burly and intense leader of the band who had formed them during the early 1990s, after having flitted from band to band before then. The band, known for their heavy, intense and somewhat haunting sound and their heavily neo-pagan lyrics with songs such as “Be My Druidess,” and the lyrics in “Everyone I Love Is Dead”, won’t be the same without Steele as the backing force.
Sadly, it was Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly’s major spokesperson who had to confirm the news to the media world that he had passed away. From what they know so far, it seems that heart failure was the cause, and he slipped away last night. As a major symbol and role model to metal bands out there, this was a big loss, and has rocked the music world. Mistress Juliya, a major hostess for Fuse, and their record label, SPV/Steamhammer Records, have both expressed condolences. It’s doubtful that that’s all the condolences we’ll see.
Steele passed on April 14th, but initially it was difficult to get confirmation of his death.  In 2005, a leaked promotional picture featuring a tombstone with Steele’s name and the dates 1962-2005’ printed on it as part of a publicity stunt to promote Type O Negative’s latest album lead fans to believe that Steele had died.    Both Steele and the band were known for having a macabe and morbid sense of humor, making it hard to verify if this was just another publicity stunt.
Unfortunately for all of us, this time it is no stunt.  We have all lost a great rocker.  May he rock forever with the Metal Gods.

The Case Against Michael Jackson’s Doctor Grows Explosive

Posted by Kat – March 23, 2010

The circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson’s death was nothing short of tragic, and it’s only gotten even more convoluted. Jackson’s doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, has now been accused of behavior that is reprehensible: he supposedly stopped performing CPR on Jackson and then didn’t call the paramedics so that he could stop and go collect different drug vials. This seems to be yet another block stacked against the doctor, as the prosecution will be following this particular trail of evidence in the involuntary manslaughter case that could really turn the tide. After all, hiding evidence is a serious offense, and the prosecution won’t be letting it go.

Alberto Alvarez, the logistics director for Jackson himself, was the one to give this statement, a full account of the events as he saw them. Coupled with two other employees of Michael Jackson who also were called and arrived at the scene, the events seem pretty damning.

According to Alvarez, he had bolted to Jackson’s room and could see Jackson lying down on the bed with an IV in his leg. His eyes were open, his mouth was slack and he didn’t seem to be coherent. Murray was performing CPR until Alvarez took over. It was after he was declared dead that Alvarez claims Murray stated he needed to go back to Jackson’s home to collect items so that no one would know what Jackson had.

Granted, this certainly isn’t set in stone. The defense lawyer for Murray has already tried to rebuke this argument, especially since Alvarez allegedly has given different accounts now of what had happened, and in that first interview, Alvarez apparently did not tell the police that Murray tried to hide things. The trail itself is going to be messy, clearly, and the evidence seems to change day by day, but one thing’s for sure, this allegation isn’t going to be the last.

South By Southwest Comes to A Close

Posted by Kat – March 21, 2010

Austin, Texas was the home of one of the most important and influential music festivals in the United States this weekend, and South By South West was an amazing experience. Even though it was rainy, cold and windy on Saturday as it came to the end of the concert, the fans didn’t really seem to care. On Thursday, March 18th, the famous Motown legend himself Smokey Robinson had been there to deliver the keynote speech and start the festival right. The crowd seemed to be a little restless the first night but as the Conference went on, the crowd and the performers only got more and more enthused.

Over the conference, several different performers were there to really bring some amazing talent and enjoyment to the concert. It was really the second day of the confererence where the fans were given the real performances, and you could see the lights go from red to green on Friday. Sadly, Alex Chilton, famous guitarist of Big Star, had passed away on Wednesday, so there were touching remembrances throughout the performance, and many of the musicians there felt a little numb by the loss. But, the audience wouldn’t let the tragedy stop the celebration of music. They were there in throngs for Stone Temple Pilots, who were finally performing together for a new album, something they hadn’t done in almost a decade. Robbie Krieger also arrived to promote a new documentary on the Doors. Cheap Trick also got to help the audience rock on.

Muse, Courtney Love, and Smokey Robinson himself were all different performers helping to keep the crowd all sorts of riled up during the concert on Friday. To bring it to a close on Saturday was Estelle and Snoop Dogg, and most touching, a full Alex Chilton tribute really brought the night to a final close.

T-Bone Leaves Us After Making Dreams Come True

Posted by Kat – March 1, 2010

If you’ve grown up listening to music, then chances are you’ve heard the iconic song “You Make My Dreams Come True,” by Hall & Oates. And when you think of that song, of course, you have to think of the bass riff that made that song so catchy. Sadly, Tom “T-Bone” Wolk, the bassist who played with Darryl Hall and John Oates for almost thirty years, passed away on Saturday of what seems to be a heart attack. While the details of his death have not been released, nor have details about his funeral, the death comes as a shock to everyone, especially Hall and Oates. T-Bone had been scheduled to actually perform with Hall and Oates in a special one-year anniversary show for “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.”

At 58 years old, Wolk was a native of Yonkers, New York, and had been a collaborating bassist with several different bands and artists throughout the last thirty years. For example, Kurtis Blow’s early hit “These are the Breaks” features the bassist’s talent, and then between 1986 and 1992, he was the bassist for the house band on “Saturday Night Live.” Don’t quite remember him? Think of the guy with the black top hat. That was T-Bone Wolk.

But, before Saturday Night Live, it was his work with Hall and Oates that really defined him. He started with the album “Private Eyes” in 1981, then continued all the way through until recent times. And he wasn’t just the bassist, either. Wolk was also a co-producer for many of the different Hall and Oates projects over the years and also worked with Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Jewel, Rosanne Cash and Cyndi Lauper. The work that T-Bone Wolk left as his legacy will certainly be remembered, and I for one, will miss the bassist with the black top hat.

Doug Fieger Leaves Us

Posted by Kat – February 16, 2010

 Who doesn’t remember the insanely popular hit from 1979 by The Knack “My Sharona?” A song full of crazy vocals, a wicked hook and some pounding drums that have inspired parody, karaoke and music videos, “My Sharona” gave the Knack the eternal recognition that they so richly deserved. Unfortunately, yesterday, the band lost the headliner who co-wrote the lyrics and sang the lead for the song, Doug Fieger. Feiger passed away just yesterday at the age of 57. He passed away after a long battle with cancer.

 In 1978, in the city of Los Angeles, the Detroit native Fieger formed the Knack. The band quickly grew quite popular all along the Sunset Strip’s copious rock clubs in the area, and it was only a year after that that the song that would define the group was written.

 ”My Sharona” was reportedly inspired from Fieger’s girlfriend at the time, who had been with him for four years and reportedly left a huge impression on him. The song had been an amazing, unique and thrilling rock theme that didn’t apologize and totally blew people away in the end of the disco era. It was on the Number One Billboard spot for six weeks and became the most popular song of the band.

The song had kind of fallen by the wayside over the years, but when the 1994 movie “Reality Bites” featured the song on the soundtrack and put it right back in the spotlight. MTV featured an official music video featuring parts of the movie and footage of the band that would forever solidify the song as an everlasting hit. And to think, Weird Al got his start from “My Bologna” and without The Knack, he never would have gotten there.

 Fieger’s battle with cancer lasted six years and a brain surgery to remove tumors, and he will be sorely missed.

A Death In the Music Industry Is Marking the New Year

Posted by Kat – January 14, 2010

This Tuesday morning, the music industry lost yet another creative mind. Jimmy Lee Lindsey, who most fans of garage-punk know as Jay Reatard, was found in his home in Memphis dead on Tuesday morning. It seems that 2010 is going to start the new year off with another death, and this time, a 29-year-old artist who seemed to be doing well. His newest album was only released in August of last year, and was entitled “Watch Me Fall.” The album had gained quite a deal of acclaim and it seemed that Reatard was doing well. In fact, his interviews were excited, hopeful and thoughtful.

Reatard’s new album was meant to help him cope with his coming change to becoming an adult at 30. He mentioned that the album was going to deal with issues with mortality, how it feels to become jaded and disenchanted with one’s youth, as well as simply having to grow older. He felt that his album was coming out of his childish phase in life and also becoming an adult.

So far, there has been no information on the precise cause of Reatard’s death, except that he passed away in his sleep. Both record companies to have worked with him, Goner and Matador records, have expressed their sadness and disappointment at this event. The funeral arrangements will be released at some point, and with any hope, information about the precise cause of his death will be determined soon.

It’s always tough with the music business loses artists, and they’ve lost more than their fair share just in the last year. What makes it more unfortunate, though, is when you realize it’s a young and upcoming star who was looking forward to the changes their life had coming. Jay Reatard’s death has definitely been a loss, even for those who never realized what he could have done.

Vic Chestnutt’s Death Gives A Case of the Christmas Blahs

Posted by Kat – December 29, 2009

So, talk about sad news on Christmas Day. Vic Chesnutt, a singer and songwriter who was known for his incredibly sad and very poignant numbers, passed away on Christmas Day at age 45. The worst bit of the news? It seems that he tried to commit suicide. Sadly, the label that represented Chesnutt, Constellation Records, expressed how sad they were to see this happen, and expressed how they felt he had a very strong character and grace.

In fact, this particular artist has left behind friends and fellow collaborators who are just as stunend as anyone else. When it became known that Chesnutt wasn’t doing well on Wednesday, Kristin Hersh, one of his fellow collabs and a good friend, the former singer of the Throwing Muses, had been telling everyone through Twitter about it. In fact, it was Hersh’s Tweets that alerted most everyone that it was a suicide attempt.

For Hersh and many others, they had hoped it would not be an actual successful attempt, but rather that he would pull through with minor, if any, brain damage. He had left a note to inform Hersh, but it seemed that even Chesnutt was sure this would not be an attempt.

Vic Chesnutt was discovered by Michael Stipe, lead singer for R.E.M. back in the 1980s, and had been in a wheelchair since he was 18 from a car accident. He had produced fifteen albums total, and two of them had been this year, but it seemed that for whatever reason, Chesnutt is gone. No details have been released on what his note said, or what his reasons were, and it’s possible no one may ever know.  For any of Chesnutt’s friends and family, though, there will be no solace for now, and the music industry has lost an amazing songwriter and performer.