You often hear of rock stars being found dead by family and friends, but rarely does it happen on the tour bus. I just watched GWAR throw down on Jimmy Fallon the other night. Quite honestly, GWAR frightens me, they have always frightened me and probably always will; however, this band which is part performance art, part absolute mystery and part metal, lost an integral member with the unexpected death of guitarist Cory Smoot.
Smoot wasn’t the original guitarist in the metal band, which has been around for 25 years, but he had played with them for nearly 10 years. His stage name was Flattus Maximus, and he was 34 years old.
Smoot was sleeping on the bus, after the band had left the Twin Cities area following a concert in Minneapolis. The tour was heading into Canada. Fellow band mates attempted to wake Smoot when the tour bus reached the United States-Canadian border, and they found him unresponsive.
Smoot’s name is legendary in the metal community, as well as in the world of Mid-Atlantic music. The Virginia native also owned and operated a sound and mastering studio–Karma Productions/Slave Pit Studios–in Richmond. Friends who grew up with Smoot recalled his friendly nature, his love for music and his early desire to someday be in GWAR, even while he was a high school teenager.
The band has stated that the tour will continue.
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