Metal guitarist Mike Scaccia died last night after a collapse on stage. He was 47.
Scaccia was one of the founding members of Rigor Mortis in 1983. In 1990, Al Jourgensen invited him to join his band, Ministry, on tour. The tour went well, and Scaccia stayed on with them. He recorded Psalm 69 and Filth Pig with Ministry before leaving to re-form Rigor Mortis in 2003. Since then, he had bounced between Rigor Mortis and Ministry, and also recorded albums with Revolting Cocks, Lard, and Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters. He also performed a track on a Lucio Fulci tribute album, Lucio Fulci: A Symphony of Fear.
On December 22nd, Scaccia was performing with Rigor Mortis at the Rail Club in Fort Worth, Texas to celebrate lead singer Bruce Corbitt's 50th birthday. Some reports stated that Scaccia asked the club to turn off the strobe lights, but it wasn't done in time, and Scaccia suffered a seizure. He was taken to the hospital, but died shortly thereafter.
Corbitt had this to say on his Facebook page: "My brother is gone! The only reason I am who I am is because of this man. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t even be in a band. RIP Mike – the greatest guitar player I ever knew. I’m proud to say that I was always Mike Scaccia’s biggest fan, and always will be.”