Drowning Pool vocalist Dave Williams' death was due to natural causes and was not drug or alcohol related, as had been widely speculated. On Aug. 14, the 30-year-old frontman was found dead in a bunk on his tour bus. The band was in Manassas, Va., en route to the following day's Ozzfest stop in nearby Bristow.
"The news is in. The toxicology report came back negative," writes the band's tour manager, who along with a guitar tech, found Williams' body. Posting as "Shawdog" on the band's official Web site, he adds, "'Nothing found' and this is the truth my friends." A toxicology report confirmed that the singer died of a heart problem. Further tests were ordered after an autopsy conducted soon after Williams' death proved inconclusive.
In a prior post, the tour manager had adamantly denied reports that Williams had choked on his own vomit, emphasizing that there was no way to immediately tell the cause of Williams' death, as he "looked like he was sleeping" when he was discovered. "The band and crew were not up drinking like frat boys, taking drugs etc.," Shawdog wrote of the band's overnight travels to Manassas from Noblesville, Ind., where Drowning Pool had played the night before.
"We were watching DVDs and I even shut Dave's bunk T.V. off at 5:00 a.m. to the sound of his snores," Shawdog continued. "It's no secret Dave loved to drink and enjoy life but this was not the night of hardcore parties... Dave was not a pot head -- did not do heroin, etc."
Drowning Pool was touring in support of its Wind-Up debut, "Sinner," which has sold more than 1.2 million units to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The single "Bodies" hit No. 6 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks tally last summer.
from billboard.com
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I see you beat me to posting this...I just got done reading it and feel about 1/2 inch tall.
When I read about his death, I jumped right in with the crowd of rampant speculation about what we considered the "obvious" cause of his death. And of course the obvious "bodies hit the floor" jokes.
Anyhow...makes you think a little about "knee jerk" reactions.
A disclaimer before I start. It sucks that he died pretty young, and as much as I'm not a fan of Drowning Pool, I hope his soul has gone to rest in peace, and that his family and friends have made peace with him and his untimely death.
With that said, however, I'm still a little skeptical. A guy posting on the band's board with a user name of "Show Dog," claiming to be the band's manager, said that Williams' death was of natural causes. Has anyone actually seen this toxicology report that supposedly backs up this claim? Hell, prominent figures have died young from diseases like AIDS, and on news reports, the cause of death was announced as something along the lines of complications from pneumonia. It's possible that the band and/or Williams' family wanted it annouced this way so that he wouldn't be remembered forever as "that guy in that nu-metal band who died from drugs/booze."
And let's think about it - how many 30-year-olds do you know who have died of natural causes?
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