It was on this day in 2016 that heavy metal lost a thrash legend. On May 21, 2016, former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza suffered a fatal heart attack while performing a show in California. He was 51.
Menza was playing a gig with his band OHM at The Baked Potato venue in Studio City. During the set, Blabbermouth reported, Menza collapsed behind the drum kit. He was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical care, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
An autopsy determined Menza’s cause of death to be atherosclerotic, hypertensive-induced congestive heart failure
Following the news of his death, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine took to Twiter/X to mourn his former bandmate. “Tell me this isn’t true,” he tweeted. “I woke at 4am to hear Nick Menza passed away on May 21 playing his drums with Ohm at the Baked Potato. #nickmenzarip.”
Menza joined Megadeth in 1989 and played on 6 of the band’s albums until his exit in 1998. His contributions to the band would go on to be included on four more of the band’s music projects.
In addition to his time with Megadeth, Menza also played with ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman’s solo band. Some of Menza’s other bands were Memorain, Von Skeletor, Deltanaut, and Sweet Eve.
The day after Menza’s death, his friend and biographer J. Marshall Craig issued a statement on behalf of Menza’s close friends and family. “We ask for prayers for Nick’s family, his family, and especially his two sons and their mother, Teri,” he wrote.
“He just spent nearly two weeks with the boys in the Pacific Northwest and was absolutely glowing,” Craig continued. “He was scheduled to fly to my home in Cape Cod tomorrow so that we could finish the comic-book version of the book we wrote on his life, ‘MenzaLife’, both of which were slated for release late next month. This morning, we are all too numb to think about anything but Nick’s family.”
Nick’s manager, Robert Bolger, added, “Along with your prayers and wonderful thoughts and memories of this incredible man and musician, we ask that fans respect his family’s need for privacy at this absolutely tragic time.”
The post Heavy Metal Lost a Thrash Legend After He Suffered a Fatal Heart Attack While Performing on This Day in 2016 appeared first on VICE.
