RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) – David Brockie, frontman for the satirical
extra-terrestrial metal band Gwar, has been found dead at his Richmond
home, police said. He was 50.Officers were called
to Brockie’s home Sunday evening and found him inside, police said in a
statement. Foul play is not suspected and an autopsy will determine the
cause of death, it said.
Brockie co-founded Gwar, billed
on its website as “Earth’s only openly extra-terrestrial rock band,” in
the 1980s with fellow art students at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Grammy-nominated group gained a worldwide cult
following for its mix of thrash metal, grotesque costumes and outrageous
stage shows.
Described by the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer newspaper in 2007 as “the mutant child of early ’80s
hair music,” Gwar’s onstage antics included simulated urination,
dismemberment of lifesize puppets and lots of fake blood. It released
its latest album last year.
Performing as “Oderus
Urungus,” Brockie wore an elaborate costume of a horned mask, shoulder
pads, massive helmets and armor with blades jutting out of it.
In a profanity-laced 2014 television interview produced by
Australia’s Soundwave music festival, Brockie said he was less than
sober on stage.
“For me, being wasted is not being
wasted. When I’m sober, that’s being wasted, literally,” he said while
in full costume, a bottle in one armored hand.
“They’re like, ‘Oderus, you don’t have to be drunk to perform.’ I’m
like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about?'” he said, laughing.
Brockie called the late Bon Scott of Australian hard rock
band AC/DC “my favorite performer in the history of metal. He’s the
greatest lead singer ever.”
Don Drakulich, another
founder of Gwar and one of its costume and prop makers, said he knew
little about Brockie’s death except that his roommate found the body.
“It’s very sad, and I’m shocked,” said Drakulich, who no longer tours with the band.
