Musician Tribute

Chi Cheng (1970-2013) Chi Ling Dai Cheng was born July 15th, 1970 in Stockton, California. Cheng graduated from Tokay High School and would later attend California State University in 1989. While attending University he worked on campus, wrote poetry, and played with the Deftones. During this time he converted to Buddhism and had an interest in Taoism and Shamanism as well as became a vegetarian. While working with the Deftones he continued as a poet and spoken word artist and authored an anthology of poems titled The Bamboo Parachute in 2000. Achievements:  Solo: The Bamboo Parachute (2000) With Deftones: For a more comprehensive list, see Deftones discography . Adrenaline (1995) Around the Fur (1997) White Pony (2000) Deftones (2003) Saturday Night Wrist (2006) Guest appearances Live at the Fillmore by Dredg (2006) Korn has a song titled "Chi" from their second album Life Is Peachy (1996), which is named after Cheng. Dredg dedic...

Tommy Marth (1978-2012) Thomas Christian Marth Jr. was born November 23rd, 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada to singer Diane Eddington and Thomas Marth Sr. Marth’s father taught him to play the drums when he was 4 years old. It wasn’t until Marth heard a cassette tape of Stan Getz that he decided he wanted to play the saxophone. Marth met Mark Stoermer, the future bass player for The Killers while attending Chaparral High School. He would later attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he received a bachelor's degree in Film. In 2006, he joined Stoermer and the Killers in the studio to record tracks for their album Sam’s Town. After the album was released he performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno with The Killers. Then, in 2008, he played saxophone on Black Camaro’s album Pistachio Mustachio and then went to record on The Killers album Day & Age. Since November 2011, Marth was the Nightlife Marketing Manager in Las Vegas for Hard Rock. Achievements...

Jim Croce (1943-1973) James Joseph Croce was born January 10th, 1943 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to James and Flora Croce. He Grew up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, graduating from Upper Darby High School in 1960. Croce went on to continue his education at Villanova University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a minor in German in 1965. While attending college he was a member of the Villanova Singers, Villanova Spires, and was a student Disc Jockey at WKVU. Croce didn’t get involved much with music until he began his studies at Villanova. While there he formed many bands that performed really anywhere and played music that the crowds wanted to hear. In 1966, he released his first album Facets with money that was a wedding present from his parents. They hoped that the record would fail and that failure would lead him to get a more conventional job that embraced his college studies. This wasn’t the case, the record was very successful;...

Mikey Welsh (1971-2011) Michael Edward “Mikey” Welsh was born April 20th, 1971 in Syracuse, New York. Before joining Weezer in 1998 he was in many bands such as, Heretix, Chevy Hestun, Jocobono, Left Nut, Slower, and Rivers Cuomo’s side project The River’s Cuomo Band. He would only appear on one Weezer album The Green Album but he did four albums with the band from 2000 on, he also appeared on a Christmas album as well as a few b-sides and unreleased songs. He would also play with Patrick Wilson’s band The Special Goodness. Achievements:  He joined Weezer following the departure of Matt Sharp in 1998. During Weezer's hiatus he played with Verbena and the first incarnation of Patrick Wilson's band The Special Goodness. He wrote a large number of bass lines in this period, recorded them and sent them to Rivers Cuomo for writing inspiration, although Cuomo never used any of them. Instead, he contributed four of these to Juliana Hatfield's 2000 album Juliana...

Zach Sobiech (1995-2013) Zachary David Sobiech was born in May 3rd, 1995 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. At age 14, Sobiech was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a bone cancer which normally affects children. During his treatment he underwent 10 surgeries and 20 rounds of chemotherapy. He graduated from Stillwater Area High School in 2013. Sobiech started writing music after his diagnosis. In May 2012 he was told that he only had up to a year to live which prompted him to write the song “Clouds” about his battle with Cancer. He uploaded it to YouTube where it has received more than 13 million views. He also formed the band A Firm Handshake in 2012 with friends. They released on EP Fix Me Up, in early 2013 which gained some success in the USA and the UK.  Achievements: Received Upper Midwest Emmy for “Clouds” Received Dream Maker Award Charity: Family established the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund in 2015 which continues to grow.

MickDeth (1978-2013) Mick Richard Morris was born March 9th, 1978 in Salt Lake City, Utah and was raised by his grandparents along with his siblings. While Morris was in high school he was in a band called Elsewhere; he would later drop out of school to pursue music full-time. He returned to school to get his diploma at age 20 in 1998. Morris knew music was what he wanted to pursue ever since he saw Metallica's video for “One.” His father didn’t disapprove since he was a guitar player himself. After moving to California he held a job for three years until Eighteen Visions became a band in 2003. He recorded 5 albums with Eighteen Visions and toured the world. On April 9th, 2007 Mick announced that they were no longer a band. On June 3rd, 2013 Morris passed away in his sleep from a pre-existing heart condition after being released from the hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah at the age of 35. Achievements: He was one of the Award Judges during the 7th annual Independen...

Shane Gibson (1979-2014) Shane Paul Gibson was born on February 21st, 1979 in Houma, Louisiana. He is best known as the touring guitarist for the band Korn after Brian “Head Welch left in February 2005. Gibson also played lead guitar on Jonathan Davis’ solo tour. Gibson’s main band was Stork which is an experimental rock band that combined different elements. He has also worked with  Mr. Creepy and Echoes the Fall. In 2014 he was on an episode of the prank show Deal with it.  Achievements: Discography: 2005: As a solo artist – Mr. Stork 2007: Jonathan Davis and the SFA – Alone I Play 2009: L. Shankar – Face to Face 2009: Jason C. Miller – Last to Go Home 2010: SchwarZenatoR – SchwarZenatoR 2010: stOrk – stOrk 2010: New World Man – A Tribute to Rush (″New World Man″, ″Fly By Night″, ″Force Ten″)[4] 2010: Echoes the Fall – "Free" 2011: Jonathan Davis and the SFA – Debut solo album 2013: SchwarZenatoR - "Jingle All The Way" Single ...

Tyson Stevens (1985-2014) Tyson Curtis Stevens was September 29th, 1985. In 2002 Stevens formed the band Scary Kids Scaring Kids in Gilbert, Arizona. From 2002 to 2010 Stevens held many roles within the band which included bass guitar, lead vocals, programming and additional guitar. Their EP After Dark was self-financed and released while the members were still in high school. In 2005, this album would be re-released by Immortal Records. On November 30th, 2009 an official statement was released declaring the group had disbanded.  Achievements: Scary Kids Scaring Kids received the Libby Award by PETA in January 2008 for speaking up against Chicken Express. Charity: PETA

Tom Diaz (1986-2018) Thomas M. Diaz was born on September 2nd, 1986 and was a founding member, singer, and keyboardist for the band The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die; sometimes shortened to The World is a Beautiful Place. During his time in the band the recorded two EP’s. which were both recorded in 2010. The band’s 1st full-length studio album was released in 2013 and tom shared vocals with David Bello. This was Diaz’s last recorded work with the band. The album Whenever, If Ever was delayed due to the same medical issues which would cause Tom to step down from the band eventually.  Achievements: They released their debut full-length album Whenever, If Ever in 2013 to generally positive reviews, followed by Harmlessness in 2015 and Always Foreign in 2017. Aside from these three studio albums they have released a number of EPs and splits, including a collaboration with spoken word artist Christopher Zizzamia entitled Between Bodies and ...