GWAR founder and frontman Dave Brockie, aka Oderus Urungus, was found dead in his Richmond home Sunday evening. He was 50 years old. The cause of death has yet to be determined, but police report that no foul play is suspected and the band’s manager confirmed “a full autopsy will be performed.”
The news comes just five days after the band announced their fifth annual GWAR-B-Q scheduled for August 16th. It is unclear if the band will continue after Brockie’s passing.
Friends of the Brockie have been paying their respects, with Lamb of God‘s Randy Blythe posting the following on Instagram:
“When someone dies, a lot of the time people will say ‘Oh, he was a unique person, really one of a kind, a true original’… Dave TRULY WAS ONE OF A KIND- I can’t think of ANYONE even remotely like him. That’s VERY HARD TO SAY. My band learned how to become a real touring band from GWAR– they gave us out first shot at this thing. I learned many things from Dave, many of which I am eternally grateful for, and some of which I am deeply ashamed of…. Right now, if I were to truly honor Dave in the way HE would do it if it were ME that had died, I would make a completely tasteless joke about his death. But I do not have the stomach for that- Dave would, but not me.“
