Unfortunately, the law of life dictates that we all must eventually cease to exist. In 2011, we celebrated a lot of triumphs in the Heavy Music world, but we also said good bye to current and former members of Motörhead, Alice in Chains, Manowar, Gwar, Thin Lizzy, Anal Cunt, Warrant, and Sirius XM Liquid Metal/Revolver Magazine. Let them all Rock In Peace!
Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy):
Guitar legend Robert William Gary Moore passed away on February 6th of suspected heart attack. He was 58 years old. Gary Moore's spectacular career will always be remembered by the Blues and Rock N Roll community. During his 42 years of musical creation, he was part of Thin Lizzy, Skid Row, Colosseum II, Phil Lynott, Greg Lake and BBM.
Scott Columbus passed away on April 4th. The cause of death hasn't been disclosed. Scott was known for hitting the drums extremely hard, to the point that after years of having to replace standard kits too often, he started playing a kit made of stainless steel that he called the "Drums of Doom". Scott was discovered by a female fan, who saw him beating aluminum in a local foundry. He was part of Manowar from 1983 to 1990. Scott was forced to leave the band and at the time the band said that he left when his son got very sick (this was later denied by Columbus). He then was replaced by Kenny Earl Edwards (nicknamed Rhino) for "The Triumph of Steel" album. He returned for the "Louder Than Hell" album and stayed with the band until Summer of 2008.
Seth Putnam passed away on June 11th of a suspected heart attack. He was 43 years old. Putnam will always be remembered for writing controversial music, which included lyrics that would shock, offend, or invoke morbid humor. Apart for being the vocalist of Anal Cunt since 1988 (year when the band was formed), Putnam lend his infamous scream to many Heavy Music bands. His most notorious guest appearance was when he laid down some wild vocals on Pantera's eighth studio album titled "The Great Southern Trendkill".
Mike Starr (Alice In Chains):
Mike Starr passed away on March 8th of a suspected drug overdose. He was 44 years old. Starr was part of Heavy Music titans Alice In Chains during the "Facelift" and "Dirt" albums and the "Sap" EP. During an episode of "Celebrity Rehab" Starr confessed that he was kicked out of Alice In Chains due to his drug addiction. After leaving Alice In Chains, Starr played bass for Sun Red Sun. The band featured Ray Gillen and Bobby Rondinelli, both former members of Black Sabbath. The band came to an end when Gillen died in 1993.
Cory Smoot passed away on November 3rd during the bands "Return of the World Maggot Tour", from a coronary artery thrombosis brought about by his pre-existing coronary artery disease. Cory adopted the role of Gwar’s red-faced, white-dreadlocked, dinosaur-shoulder-padded alien guitarist, "Flattus Maximus", in 2002, Smoot was considered by fans as the “True Flattus” since he was the longest serving axman to play the character. He was also a major songwriter on the four Gwar albums he played on. After his death, bandleader Oderus Urungus announced that the character Flattus Maximus would be retired.
Michael Burston passed away on July 9th of ventricular fibrillation, caused by cardiomyopathy (heart disease). He was 61 years old. Before joining Motörhead in 1984, Burston had been a corporal in the Army, serving in Germany and Ireland with the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, and had played in the bands Bastard and Warfare. Joining another relatively unknown guitarist, Phil Campbell, they played together at a Motörhead audition, and both were taken on. Burston acquired the nickname Wurzel whilst in the Army, being compared to the character Worzel Gummidge due to his scarecrow-style hair and bumpkin-like manner. Motörhead singer Lemmy encouraged Würzel to add an umlaut to the 'U' in his name, for heavy Metal effect. He was part of Motörhead until he left in 1995.
Jani Lane passed away on August 11th from acute alcohol poisoning. He was 47 years old. As lead vocalist of Warrant, Lane wrote three Top 40 hit singles: "Heaven," "Down Boys" and "Sometimes She Cries" for Warrant's debut album 'Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich' which peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and another three Top 40 hit singles: "Cherry Pie," "I Saw Red," and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" from the second album 'Cherry Pie', which peaked at number 7 on the Billboard 200. Lane also co-wrote and performed with Warrant the song "The Power" in the 1992 movie Gladiator.
Phil Vane passed away on February 23rd during his sleep. He was 46 years old. Phil was the founding co-vocalist of the British crust Punk/Grindcore band Extreme Noise Terror. He even briefly fronted grindcore originators Napalm Death, switching places with singer Barney Greenway, who appeared on Extreme Noise Terror’s 'Damage 381' before returning to Napalm Death.
Mario Comesanas passed way on June 13th from a brain hemorrhage that was caused by a rare form of leukemia. He was 30 years old. Throughout his career in music, Mario left his mark as been a genuine, passionate, and charismatic guy. Ever since he started doing radio at WSOU 89.5 FM with a show called "Hardcore Reality", it was evident that Mario was a huge supporter of Heavy Music and that he wanted to devote his career to all things heavy. Soon after he graduated from Seton Hall University, he joined Sirius Satellite Radio (now Sirius XM) and started working with Jose Mangin as a DJ in Hard Attack (now Liquid Metal). During his tenure there, he also started working with Revolver Magazine at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, were he hosted artist meet and greets and did some marketing work for the magazine. Mario had also recently joined the independent label distributor RED Distribution.
The memory of all these rockers, lives forever in our minds! \m/
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