Musician Tribute

Wayne Static (1965-2014) Wayne Richard Wells was born November 4th, 1965 in Muskegon, Michigan to Richard and Darlene Wells. When he was 3 years old he was introduced to his first guitar; a toy one, but by age 7 his parents decided to him an 512 Beginner Model guitar. His parents paid for him to take guitar lessons which resulted in him winning a contest. At the age of 12 he was in his first band and made the decision that he wanted to be a musician when he grew up. He attended Shelby High School and played in a band for the high school dances. In 1987, after moving to Chicago he created the band Deep Blue Dream, the band ultimately wouldn’t last long and eventually lead to the creation of Static-X. On October 4th, 2011 he released a solo album called Pighammer. Static-X disbanded in June of 2013 due to disputes over rights to the band’s name. Achievements:  Static-X signed with Warner Bros. Records in early 1998, and released their debut album, Wisconsin Death Tr...

Aretha Franklin (1942-2018) Aretha Louise Franklin was born March 25th, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee to Barbara and Clarence Franklin. Her father was a Baptist Minister and Circuit Preacher and her mother was an accomplished piano player and vocalist. Aretha’s parents divorced in 1948, due to her father’s infidelities. Her mother moved back to Buffalo with Aretha’s half-brother, returning to visit throughout the year. Barbara died of a heart attack on March 7th, 1952, a short time away from Aretha’s 10th Birthday. After her mother’s death she learned how to play piano by ear and started singing solos at New Bethel. Franklin would also attend public school until her freshman year at Northern High School before because she dropped out early in her Sophomore year. At the age of 12 her father would start managing her and took her along on his “Gospel Caravan” Tours to perform for numerous churches. With his help, she was signed to her first recording deal with J.V.B. Record...

Oli Herbert (1969-2018) Oli Herbert was born July 10th, 1969 in the United States. He began playing guitar at age 14 and considered himself a “lone metalhead.” During high school he had his first paid gig as part of Battle of the Bands on the last day of his senior year; the band won 3rd place, which resulted in a $25 prize. Herbert went to college and attained an associates degree in Classical and Jazz guitar, as well as a bachelor's degree in Music Composition. Before a busy tour schedule made it impossible, Herbert, taught guitar lessons for many years. Herbert’s musical influences include Motley Crue, Dokken, Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, Metallica, and Beethoven. Oli is best known as being the lead guitarist for the band All That Remains from 1998 until his death in 2018.  Achievements: 2009: Metal instructional Program for Rockhouse earned him “Instructional DVD of the year”  Charity: 14th Hour Foundation

Todd Youth (1971-2018) Todd Shofield was born on May 15th, 1971 in Rockaway, New Jersey and grew up in New York City. At the young age of 12 he started playing in several bands in New York City. He debuted with Agnostic Front and Warzone. He Joined Murphy’s Law in 1986, recording 3 full-length albums and performed with them until 1995. After leaving Murphy’s Law he evolved his style from hardcore to incorporating more 1970’s punk influences. During this time he pined the New York City glam punk band D Generation from 1996 to 1998. Youth and another former D Generation member formed a short lived band called Chrome Locust. He played with Danzig in 1999 and again in 2007. He’s also played with various other bands throughout his career. Since 2004, Youth had been playing in the Los Angeles band The Chelsea Smiles. On October 27th, 2018 Todd died at the age of 47. Achievements:  Murphy's Law 1989-1996 Back with a Bong was released in 1989 on Profile Records and subseq...

Dimebag Darrell (1966-2004) Darrell Lance Abbott was born on August 20th, 1966 in Arlington, Texas to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott; his father was a country musician and producer. When Darrell was 12 years old he received his first guitar, a Les Paul-style Hondo and a small amplifier. At the age of 14 he sent a cassette of him playing guitar to a Dallas-area guitar contest and amongst the 150+ entries he ranked in the top 15 selected, he won this contest twice and afterwards was asked to not enter again to give another the chance to win. Also, a child he met his long-time girlfriend, Rita haney. Abbott and his brother Vinnie Paul formed Pantera in 1981 where he came up with the alias Diamond Darrell. The band was influenced by acts such as Slayer, Megadeth, Venom, and Metallica, as well as many others. Darrell was asked to join Megadeth but  declined because there was no room in the band for his brother to join. In 2003, after releasing 8 studio albums Pantera officially disb...

Matt Holt (1977-2017) Matthew Francis Holt was born May 28th, 1977 in Maryland. Matt was raised in Gaithersburg and Germantown, Maryland. During high school Holt and three others formed the band Ingredient 17, which Holt was the guitarist and also did some singing for. While in this band they played shows and became familiar with the band Nothingface, which would be important later in Holt’s life. Holt would become the lead singer of the band Nothingface some time after meeting them through coincidence.  He was in Bill Gaal’s studio recording a song for Ingredient 17, when he was asked to become the lead singer for the band Nothingface. After releasing 4 studio albums together the group disbanded in 2004. Shortly after this Holt joined a new band called Kingdom of Snakes, but later this band broke up and Holt went on to pursue other musical options. In 2005, Nothingface reunited and was working on a 5th studio  Achievements: The band then recorded a 1995 self-t...

David Zablidowsky (1979-2017) David Zablidowsky Also known on stage as David Z. was best known as being the bassist for Trans Siberian Orchestra from 2000 to 2006; he was also the bassist in the bands Z02 and Adrenaline Mob. David was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York in 1979. David received a music degree from Brooklyn College. He was a founding member of the band Z02 which debuted in 2017 and was also a founding member of the 80’s tribute band called Rubix Cube. He has one brother named Paul.  Achievements: Whenever the band was off the road they returned to the studio and in 2004 completed The Lost Christmas Eve, the final installment of the Christmas Trilogy. It is a story of loss and redemption that encompasses a rundown hotel, an old toy store, a blues bar, a Gothic Cathedral and their respective inhabitant all intertwined on a single enchanted Christmas Eve in New York City. The Lost Christmas Eve was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Ass...

Richard Shannon Hoon (1967-1995) Richard Shannon Hoon was born on September 26th, 1967 in Lafayette, Indiana, but was raised in Dayton, Indiana with his half-siblings. In high school, Richard, was involved in many sports which included football, wrestling, and pole vaulting. Fe graduated from Mccutcheon High School in 1985 and afterwards he joined Styff Kitten, a local glam metal band, which he was the frontman and lead singer of. He was also a member of Mank Range. At age 18, Hoon, left Indiana and moved to California where he was performing his song, “Change” acoustically and was invited to play music with others. In 1990 five guys including Hoon decided to form the band Blind Melon and later that same year they were signed to a $500,000 contract with Capitol Records. Blind Melon had much success and even went multi-platinum and played many big concerts /venues with many well-known bands such as Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N’ Roses and Soundgarden. Hoon and his girlfriend, Lisa Cro...

Matt Roberts (1978-2016) Matthew Roberts was born March 10th, 1978 in Illinois. When he was seven he started to play his mom’s guitar and by age 12 his mother had bought him his first guitar from Sears. His mother also taught him how to sing. His biggest influences musically are Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix, whom he took inspiration from for his sound. Roberts was the lead guitarist for 3 Doors Down until 2012 when he left due to health concerns.  Achievements: “Kryptonite” was nominated for a Grammy in 2001 for best rock song - he co-authored the song. Charity: The Better Life Foundation

Trish Doan (1985-2017) Trish Jai-Mee Doan was born May 9th, 1985 in Gwangju, South Korea. As a child she moved to Toronto, Canada with her parents. She started playing lead and rhythm guitar at age 13. In 2006, she graduated from Sheridan College with a ‘Media Arts: Film and Television Productions’ diploma. Doan first joined KITTIE in 2005 as their bassist and 2 years later she left the band due to her ongoing struggles with the eating disorder anorexia. She later returned to KITTIE in 2012. Trish is featured on KITTIE’s EP, “Never Again” and their album Funeral for Yesterday. Achievements: Kittie created their own record label, Kiss of Infamy Records and used it to release their fourth studio album. The label name was later changed to "X of Infamy" after a cease-and-desist letter from attorneys representing Kiss Catalog Ltd. (the owner of the intellectual property rights pertaining to the musical group Kiss) alleging that the Kiss of Infamy trademark was ...