According to WTVR.com, Dave Brockie, lead singer and mastermind of Richmond, Virginia-based art/shock-rock metal band GWAR, died of an accidental heroin overdose.
The State Medical Examiner’s Office’s official cause of death: acute heroin toxicity; in other words: accident.
Brockie was found unresponsive by his roommate at approximately 6:50 p.m. EST on March 23 in his North Richmond home. Responding police investigators found evidence of heroin use, but the cause of death wasn’t finalized until toxicology tests were completed. He was 50 years old.
The musician was laid to rest on April 1 in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia.
Brockie is the second member of GWAR to die within the past three years. Guitarist Cory Smoot, who played the character Flattus Maximus, died of a heart attack on the band’s tour bus in November 2011 at the age of 34.
Brockie said at the time, “I think Cory’s death is a big wake-up call for all of us. We all breathed a big sigh of relief when we found out it wasn’t a drug overdose, to speak quite frankly. But then to think that he was 34 and died of a heart attack — it’s really scary.”
Brockie was the last remaining original member of GWAR, which was founded 30 years ago. The future of the band at this stage is uncertain.
The satirical metal band earned a following for its macabre, over-the-top costumes, offensive lyrics and graphic, gore-soaked shows, in which the band members performed as the descendants of alien warriors who arrived on Earth to enslave and slaughter the human race.
The band released its 13th album, Battle Maximus, last year.