As months turn to weeks and weeks turn to days, Ive gone over a small list of people who touched our lives. Some by way of their concerts some by way of cd's or posters. These rockers belong to the ages now and are performing concerts on the other side.
With every passing year come awesome albums and badass concerts. But there also inevitably comes the crushing news that more of our rock-and-roll heroes have shed this mortal coil. In 2011, we bid farewell to current and former members of Motörhead, Alice in Chains, Manowar, Gwar, and others.
Gary Moore
Thin Lizzy
Died February 6
Guitarist for Irish rockers Thin Lizzy during several periods, Moore is more renowned and revered as a solo blues axman, whose playing reverberates in the six-string work of everyone from Slash to Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt. Metallica’s Kirk Hammett even cites him as one of his top five guitar influences, pointing to the solo in “Master of Puppets” and riffs he wrote for “The Unforgiven” as being inspired by Moore.
Phil Vane
Extreme Noise Terror
Died February 23
Vane made his name as the absolutely ferocious vocalist of pioneering UK crust-punk outfit Extreme Noise Terror, with whom he helped spearhead the late-’80s grindcore movement. He even briefly fronted grindcore originators Napalm Death, switching places with singer Barney Greenway, who appeared on ENT’s Damage 381 before returning to NP.
Mike Starr
Alice in Chains
Died March 8
The original bassist of Alice in Chains, Starr’s tense, throbbing bass lines underpinned classic grunge-metal albums like Facelift and Dirt. After splitting with the band while it was touring in support of the latter album, Starr formed supergroup Sun Red Sun alongside former Black Sabbath members Ray Gillen and Bobby Rondinelli, and later toured with Days of the New.
Scott Columbus
Manowar
Died April 4
Columbus was the longtime drummer of battle-metal barbarians Manowar, and his playing style was fittingly brutish: The skinsman pounded what he called the “Drums of Doom,” a kit made of stainless steel because his hit so hard that when he used standard kits, they had to be replaced too regularly.
Seth Putnam
Anal Cunt
Died June 11
The sick genius/retard behind Anal Cunt and grindcore micro-blasterpieces including “Women: Nature’s Punching Bag” and “Body by Auschwitz,” Putnam was extreme metal’s shock-rock provocateur bar none. He also famously feuded with Cannibal Corpse/Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes (culminating in the AC tune “Chris Barnes is a Pussy”) and provided backing screams to songs on Pantera’s The Great Southern Trendkill.
Michael “Würzel” Burston
Motörhead
Died July 9
Guitarist for the mighty Motörhead from 1984 to 1995, Würzel laid down the licks on rumbling punk-metal landmarks like Orgasmatron and Rock ‘n’ Roll. He got his nickname while in the army, but Lemmy gave him the umlaut. At the time of his death, he was working on an album with his new band, Leader of Down.
Jani Lane
Warrant
Died August 11
One of the great frontmen of ’80s glam metal, Lane will probably be best remembered for the song and video, “Cherry Pie,” if not for bedding and wedding the clip’s smokin’ starlet, Bobbi Brown. In more recent years, the vocalist had gone solo, appeared on VH1′s Celebrity Fit Club 2, and toured with Great White.
Cory “Flattus Maximus” Smoot
Gwar
Died November 2
Adopting 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.
