Ex-Weezer Bassist Mikey Welsh Passes Away

Former Weezer bass player Mikey Welsh was found dead in his Chicago hotel room on Saturday, October 8. Welsh, who was forty at the time of his death, joined Weezer in 1998, after the departure of original bassist Matt Sharp.  He toured with the newly reunited band in 2000 and would go on to play on their 2001 comeback record Weezer, better known as the Green Album. Unfortunately, the stress of touring, combined with undiagnosed mental conditions and prolonged drug use led to Welsh quitting Weezer in 2001. A few months later he would experience a nervous breakdown, leading to a suicide attempt, eventually resulting in him being admitted into psychiatric care. Welsh eventually retired from music in 2002, forging a new, and successful, career as a visual artist.

In a post on the Weezer website, the band’s webmaster Karl Koch marked the passing of their friend, saying, “It saddens me and the guys in Weezer so much to say that our beautiful, creative, hilarious and sweet friend Mikey Welsh has passed away at the very young age of 40. A unique talent, a deeply loving friend and father, and a great artist is gone, but we will never forget him. His chapter in the Weezer story (’98 – ’01) was vital, essential, wild, and amazing.”

In a bizarre coincidence, Welsh seemed to predict his coming death in a tweet two weeks earlier. On 26 September he tweeted, “dreamt i died in chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep). need to write my will today.”