Not all celebrity deaths are met with laudatory fanfare when they die. Some of them go largely
unreported if they're not superstars, or in other cases, the memories of their passings
have sadly faded in time. With that in mind, here are some '90s musicians whom you may
not know have died.
Type O Negative was one of the most unique gothic rock bands of the '90s. Led by the
imposing baritone Peter Steele, the group released seven studio albums, including 1993's
gold-certified Bloody Kisses.
"It doesn't really take that- you know, that much talent to, you know, scream your head
off."
Steele was quite the heartthrob in his day, even appearing on The Jerry Springer Show
in 1995 in a segment about rock star groupies. In his final interview with Metal Hammer Magazine
in 2008, he was asked what he wanted to do with the second half of his life, to which
he poignantly replied,
"I'm probably closer to seven-eighths of the way through my life, that's what I hope anyway.
What makes me happy is making other people happy."
Steele died of suspected heart failure just two years later in 2010. He was only 48. According
to his cousin, singer-songwriter James Toth, the bowel disease diverticulitis also played
a role in his death.
After moving from her native Australia to the United Kingdom in the late '80s, Mary
Hansen settled in London. The 10,000-mile trek proved to be a wise decision, as she
joined Anglo-French indie pop group Stereolab as a backing vocalist and guitarist in 1992.
But in 2002, her life and career were tragically cut short when she was struck by a car while
riding her bike in London. She was only 36. A touching obituary by The Guardian described
her as:
"Generous, open and fun to be around. A wiry figure, decked out in thrift-store chic, she
had the rare ability to be enthusiastic about almost everything."
The remaining members of Stereolab reflected on the impact of Hansen's death in a 2004
interview with The Independent. Vocalist Lætitia Sadier said,
"I'm very proud that Mary managed to do so much in her short life. She always understood
that you were alive and had to make the most of it. Our dedication to her on the album
says 'We will love you till the end', meaning of our lives. I'm not religious, but I feel
Mary's energy is still around somewhere. It didn't just disappear."
R&B girl group Brownstone were flying high in the mid '90s. Having been signed to Michael
Jackson's MJJ music label, their 1994 single "If You Love Me" was their biggest hit, as
it garnered them a Billboard Music Award and a Grammy nomination in the process.
In 2019, the group reunited for their 25th anniversary, but one member was notably absent:
Charmayne Maxwell. She had died back in 2015 at the age of 46 after a suspected fall that
reportedly resulted in a severe injury to her neck. In an exclusive interview with TMZ,
a member of Maxwell's family explained that the singer was found with a cut on her neck.
She died while being rushed to the hospital. As TMZ reported, the LAPD went to her home
and determined that it was a broken wine glass that had cut her neck. Foul play was not suspected.
Maxwell was survived by her husband, record producer Carsten ‘Soulshock’ Schack, and
their son.
Underground hip-hop artist Big L, born Lamont Coleman, may not be as famous as some of his
contemporaries, but he was highly lauded during his all-too-brief life. He was active on the
New York underground hip-hop scene, and as Rolling Stone wrote about him:
"Big L left an indelible impression on many of the people he met in the hip-hop community
in the 1990s."
Tragically, Big L was fatally shot near his Harlem home in 1999. He was only 24. Gerard
Woodley, an acquaintance of Big L who had a long criminal history, was arrested in connection
with the shooting. However, Woodley, who was himself fatally shot in 2016, was ultimately
never charged for Big L's murder due to lack of witnesses. As for Woodley's potential motive,
it remains unclear, although authorities speculated that Big L's alleged association with underworld
figures may have conflicted with Woodley's own illicit activities.
Fellow rapper Mac Miller, who also died at a young age, was influenced by Big L. As Miller
told XXL Mag in 2012,
"He really inspired me to be clever and witty. My early stages of rapping, I was basically
trying to be like Big L — trying to be a super raw MC."
Irish pop sensation Boyzone were one of the biggest boy bands of the '90s. In Ireland,
homosexuality was decriminalized only as recently as 1993, which made Boyzone's Stephen Gately
an LGBTQ pioneer when he came out as gay in 1999. But in 2009, Gately tragically died
while on holiday in Majorca. He was only 33. The reported cause of death was fluid on the
lung that was caused by an undiagnosed heart defect. Gately's husband Andrew Cowles shared
the couple's final moments together with The Mirror, as he revealed,
"The night he died, we'd had such a good time, a lovely evening in our favourite restaurant.
He was the most happy and confident he'd been in his life, and he'd just finished his book.
He died under my arm, curled up on the sofa and it was a few good hours before I realised
he wasn't sleeping."
"I'm programming away, Stephen sat over my shoulder, 'Baby, I've decided, Grinelda's
gonna do this!' And then I'm like, 'Interesting.'"
In 2020, Gately's bandmate Ronan Keating commemorated the eleventh anniversary of his friend's death
in a touching Instagram tribute in which he shared,
"11 years has zipped by and it's still as hard as ever to not have you in all our lives.
Miss you brother. Miss your laugh, miss your sense of humour. Miss your strops miss your
high kicks miss the bones of ya. I know you are still smiling straw balls. God Bless"
Guru was a prolific rapper who's widely regarded as a jazz-rap innovator. In 1989, he teamed
up with DJ Premier to form the hip-hop duo Gang Starr, and he also enjoyed solo success
with his Jazzmatazz albums in the '90s and 2000s. In 2009, a year before his death, he
talked about the inspiration behind his unique fusion of jazz and hip-hop in a Blues and
Soul Magazine interview, as he revealed,
"When I first came up with the Jazzmatazz concept – I was noticing how a lot of cats
were digging in the crates and sampling jazz breaks to make hip hop records [...] I wanted
to take it to the next level and actually create a new genre , by getting the actual
dudes we were sampling into the studio to jam over hip hop beats with some of the top
vocalists of the time [...] I knew it was an idea that would spawn some historic music."
Guru was diagnosed with myeloma over a year before his death, but he kept his diagnosis
a secret. He passed away on April 19, 2010. According to his friend, rap producer Solar,
the enduring support of Guru's fans helped him get through those difficult final days.
As Solar told CNN,
"I would read him the emails that would come in and play him the voicemails. I really do
believe that was part of the reason why he was able to go on as long as he did."
COVID-19 might be the most lethal pandemic in recent history, but there was another one
this century that resulted in several hundred thousand deaths just over a decade ago. The
swine flu pandemic that began in 2009 continued to claim lives years after the virus peaked.
Trish Keenan, the lead vocalist of British electronic band Broadcast, was among the victims
of that particular respiratory virus, as she died of pneumonia-related complications
after contracting swine flu in Australia in 2011. She was only 42.
In a 2009 interview with The Wire, Keenan exhibited her quirky sensibilities while discussing
the influences of her album Witch Cults Of The Radio Age. As she revealed,
"I'd like people to enjoy the album as a Hammer horror dream collage where Broadcast play
the role of the guest band at the mansion drug party by night, and a science worshipping
Eloi possessed by 3/4 rhythms by day."
Throughout her career, Keenan was famed for her humility and nonchalant approach to stardom.
While describing a video that Keenan recorded at a 2007 folk festival, The Guardian eulogized,
"Rather than concentrating on who was performing, Trish focuses on festivalgoers [...] [She]
is clearly revelling in their happiness. As legacies go, it doesn't get much better than
that."
With its fusion of metal and industrial music, Static-X stood out from the crowd in the nu-metal
era. The band broke onto the scene in 1999 with the release of their debut album Wisconsin
Death Trip, which Metal Hammer favorably contrasted to the likes of Korn and Limp Bizkit. But
in 2014, Static-X fans were devastated when frontman Wayne Static, born Richard Wayne
Wells, died at the age of 48. The official coroner's report concluded that he consumed
a fatal combination of alcohol and prescription drugs, though his wife noted that in 2009
they had stopped using illicit drugs. His death was subsequently deemed "natural."
Tributes poured in following Static's death, with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan
tweeting,
"I am shocked to hear that Wayne Static has passed away [...] He was a real gentleman,
and loved music (and KISS, Ace in particular). Even had the hood of his car painted with
the KISS logo."
Less than two years later, Wells' widow Tera Wray took her own life at the age of 33.
Alternative singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt steadily released a series of albums in the
'90s and 2000s to cult acclaim. His 1996 major label debut About to Choke was reissued posthumously
in 2010, with Pitchfork noting,
"It was dark, death-obsessed, and the only potential singles were a country-leaning song
about small-town gentrification."
Indeed, these themes of morbidity and anti-capitalism would prove prophetic. Partially paralyzed
following an accident in his youth, Chesnutt discussed how his paralysis affected his music
in a 2009 interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air. Mere weeks before his death, he
told Gross,
"It was only after I broke my neck and after even like maybe a year later that I really
started realizing that I had something to say."
Chesnutt took his own life on Christmas Day 2009, following mounting debts. He was only
45. At the time of his death, he reportedly had approximately $70,000 in unpaid medical
bills, and a Georgia hospital had also recently served him with a lawsuit. In an interview
with The Quietus conducted just months before his death, Chestnutt lamented,
"It’s a grind out there on tour. Worrying about paying the bills... it’s a grind.
It corrupts... It diminishes the joy that you can get out of music sometimes."
But Chesnutt also noted his love for his twenty-year career, as he declared,
"It also feels a triumph, you know? It’s a thrill. I am living the indie rock & roll
dream, there’s no doubt about it!"
"I want to be… me! I just want to be me! Or something."
Virginia-based indie rock band Sparklehorse were characterized by broken, somewhat infantilized
vocals and deeply personal lyrics steeped in childhood regression. The emotionally charged
music was a reflection of the personal struggles that frontman Mark Linkous had endured for
years. In a 1996 interview with NME, Linkous was asked whether he'd a newfound lust for
life following a near-death experience in which he collapsed in a London hotel room
that resulted in partial paralysis in his legs. He replied,
"I mean, I never realized how many people love me [...] I'm glad to be here now. I'm
really glad to be here, y'know."
"The songs of Virginian singer and musician Mark Linkous have entranced fans for a decade."
Unfortunately, Linkous' struggles were far from over, as he tragically took his own life
near a friend's house in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2010 at the age of 47. In a touching profile
for NPR, Linkous fan Robin Hilton wrote about the impact the late singer-songwriter had
on his fans, as he noted,
"[Linkous] could reach into the hearts and minds of those fortunate enough to hear [his]
music and leave them with the belief that they were common friends."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.