Ghost Cult continues to be gutted by the loss of our our photographer, correspondent, and friend Luke Denham, who passed away last month. You can read our tribute to him here. His funeral will be held next week in his hometown of Leicester , as well as a public service with friends. Here are the details, as detailed to us by a friend of Luke’s. RIP.
Sad news as legendary Heavy Metal singer Steve Grimmet, singer for Grim Reaper has died. He was 62 years old. News of his passing was broken on Facebook, by Steve’s brother Mark and his son, Russ. Although in poor health in recent years from diabetes, Steve had returned to touring as recently as the last few years and had plans for future releases. Grimmett’s passing comes five years after he had his right leg partially amputated in January 2017 when an infected wound on his foot spread to the bones in his leg partway through the group’s five-week tour of South America. Fans raised over $14,000 to help with his medical bills, raising awareness that touring Metal musicians are insurance deficient worldwide. Grimmet with his piercing falsetto vocals was best known for the album Rock You To Hell (1987), as well as the MTV hit video for “See You In Hell.” RIP.
Sad news as legendary bassist Darryl Hunt of Celtic Rock/Punk band The Pogues, has died. He was 72. No cause of death has been revealed at this time. The band’s official page broke the news on social media “We are saddened beyond words. Our Darryl passed away yesterday afternoon in London.” In addition, his former bandmates and friends Shane MacGowan and Spider Stacey, many peers and fans also commented on their loss. Hunt was an integral members of the band from 1986 through 1996 until their break up. RIP.
According to the Toronato Star, Canadian Punk rock legend Teenage Head guitarist Gord Lewis has died. He was found dead in his home, and tragically his brother Jonathan Lewis charged with second-degree murder. Hamilton police responded to Gord’s apartment at 175 Catharine St. S. around noon Sunday, Aug. 7. Inside the unit, they found the body of a man in his 60s with “injuries consistent with foul play,” Det. Sgt. Sara Beck, of the homicide unit, said at a news conference outside police headquarters Monday afternoon. RIP Gord.
Kaleb Luebchow, the drummer for the Christian Metalcore band War Of Ages has died. No cause of death has been released. He passed away on Wednesday, July 27th in Nashville, TN. The news was shared by Kaleb’s family as well as the bands’ posts to social media. The band had previously announced they were canceling their shows planned for this coming weekend. In addition to War of Ages, he recently played in Europe touring with the Admiral Phunk Brass Band and was an in-demand session player in the Nashville music community. RIP. Continue reading
Sad news as respected and acclaimed Metal music album cover artist and fine arts ambassador Mariusz Lewandowski has died. He was 62 years old. No cause of death has been revealed. News of his death was passed along by his family in a Facebook post, which you can see below. Known for his surrealist and horrifying paintings, Lewandowski came to prominence as an artist with countless commissions and exhibitions over the years, but became known to the heavy music community with stunning album artwork for bands such as Bell Witch, Abigail Williams, Psycroptic, and recently, Lorna Shore, among many others. Rest in power. Continue reading
Ghost Cult is mourning the loss of our photographer, correspondent, and friend Luke Denham, who has passed away. No cause of death has been divulged, but tributes to Luke have begun to spread on social media. Born in Leicester UK, Luke came to the Ghost Cult staff in 2018 to cover gigs in Sheffield and the surrounding areas and immediately made an impact with his distinct visual style and his eclectic taste in music. From Rock and Metal’s biggest stars, local talents, and underground festivals, Luke covered it all. He was bright and gifted, fast to discuss the finer points of the craft of photography beyond the music world, and always quick with a musical recommendation to those open to hearing new talents. He will be missed forever. Rest in power.
Sad news as Blabbermouth.net has reported that John Hinch, early drummer for Judas Priest has died. He was 73 years old. Hinch’s passing was confirmed by Priest vocalist Rob Halford on Instagram. Hinch played on Priest’s debut album “Rocka Rolla.” Hinch originally joined Priest in 1973 along with Halford from the local band Hiroshima but left the band in 1975 over musical differences. According to Wikipedia, Hinch later pursued a career in music management. He was mentioned prominently and for the most part positively in both the recent autobiographies of former member KK Downing and Halford. RIP.
As first reported by Piercing Metal and shared by his friend and bandmate for 50 years, Carmine Appice, rock legend Tim Bogert has died. Tim was 76 years old but had been battling cancer in the last few years. Getting his start in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s, Bogert pioneered classic rock bass guitar with virtuoso playing in bands such as Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, and the power trio Beck, Bogart and Appice with Rock And Roll Hall of Famer, Jeff Beck. In addition to his playing, he was one of the signature players of the original Fender Precision “P-bass” and made great use of distortion, which would later influence Geezer Butler, Lemmy, Cliff Burton, and others. Tim formerly retired from touring the last ten years of his life but continued to form bands and record albums, notably blues projects. Vanilla Fudge helped innovate a psychedelic sound and proto-heavy metal that has been imitated and copied endlessly. Rest in power, Tim Continue reading
Sad news at this late day in the year, as legendary Rapper and underground Hip-Hip icon MF Doom has died. No cause of death was revealed. The news was broken on Facebook in a post to his page by his wife. According to the post he died on Halloween, but that information is being verified as of now. Born Daniel Dumile in the United Kingdom, he changed the world of rap in ten years of releases from 1999 to 2009 with inventive, ground-breaking albums such as Operation: Doomsday, Take Me to Your Leader, Vaudeville Villain, Venomous Villain, Mm..Food, and Born Like This. inspired by Marvel Comics character Doctor Doom, with his mask, great rhyme skills, and dynamic stage persona, he gained critical acclaim, and commercial success. In an age of disposable MC’s and dumbed down styles, MF Doom was a leader who had great tracks and brilliant lyricism. RIP.