Former Crazy Town Guitarist Dead At 35

[Kooperman]

Former Crazy Town Guitarist Dead At 35

Fri Mar 12, 8:00 AM ET

LAUNCH Radio Networks

Former Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique, now leading his own band called Pre)thing, died at his home in Las Vegas on Monday (March 8) at the age of 35. The cause of death was a heart attack. Epique and his new band, for which he sang and played guitar, were scheduled to release their debut album, titled 22nd Century Lifestyle, on April 6 through V2 Records. A single, called "Faded Love," was one of the most added songs at rock radio last week.

V2 president Andy Gershon said in a statement, "This is a sad day for all of us at V2. Rust will be sorely missed. Not only was he an incredibly talented musician, but a friend to us all. We are saddened by this loss and our hearts go out to his friends and family."

Pre)thing, originally called Rustandthesuperheroes, was signed in 2002. Top executives at V2 called the act "perhaps the most groundbreaking artist to grace music in the last 30 years," according to ChartAttack.com.

Epique left Crazy Town after recording their debut album, 1999's The Gift Of Game, reportedly because he lived the rock and roll lifestyle too wildly for even the members of that hard-partying band, according to RollingStone.com.

Epique is survived by his wife and family. There's no word on whether the release of 22nd Century Lifestyle will go forward as planned

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...n_launch/217253