14 DAY TRIAL // Dave Brockie, the 50-year-old rocker best known for founding Gwar, the horror-inspired rock band which he also fronted as vocalist as Oderus Urungus, has died. The band’s management has confirmed the tragic news to the media, Billboard reports.
Brockie was found dead in his home in Richmond, VA, with TMZ noting that, when his lifeless body was discovered, he was sitting upright in a chair. Even so, police don’t suspect foul play or that the death was caused by a suicide attempt.
No drugs were found around the body, says the same media outlet citing inside sources.
“His body was found Sunday by his band mate at his home in Richmond, Virginia,” Jack Flanagan, Gwar’s manager, says for the trade publication. He confirms that an autopsy will be conducted to establish the exact cause of death.
“My main focus right now is to look after my band mates and his family. More information regarding his death shall be released as the details are confirmed,” Flanagan adds.
With Brockie, Gwar has lost all original members since it was started in 1984, which could very well mean that there will be no more Gwar after this, Billboard notes. Labeled the “Earth’s only openly extraterrestrial band,” Gwar made a tradition out of shocking through both their music and their onstage personas.
Each member of the band takes on a character, with each being actually a warrior from outer space, “banished to the most significant planet in the universe, the seething mud ball known as Earth.” Brockie was Oderus Urungus, which is also pictured above.
“According to Gwar lore, Oderus was billions of years old and hailed from the planet Scumdogia. His mangled, devilish face was topped with horns and he carried a huge broadsword,” Billboard says.
The band never went fully mainstream, but it enjoyed a very solid cult following and that’s because the music wasn’t just shocking (let alone shocking just for the sake of it), it also delivered deep messages on anything from political to social issues. Throughout the years, Gwar released 13 studio albums and got 2 Grammy nominations.
“Dave was one of the funniest, smartest, most creative and energetic persons I've known. He was brash sometimes, always crass, irreverent, he was hilarious in every way. But he was also deeply intelligent and interested in life, history, politics and art,” Gwar bassist Mike Bishop says for the same media outlet.
Fans certainly agree.