Died On This Date (November 25, 2010) Armando Acosta / Saint Vitus
themusicsover Armando Acosta
DOB Unknown – November 25, 2010
Armando Acosta was the founding drummer for doom metal band, Saint Vitus. Formed in Los Angeles in 1979, Saint Vitus was one of the genre’s earliest and most influential bands. They called it quits in 1996 but reformed briefly in 2003 and then again in 2008. Over the years, they released seven albums, four of which on the great SST Records. Acosta left the band in 2009. Armando Acosta was 58 when he passed away on November 25, 2010. Cause of death was not immediately released.
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Stella Salamone was a popular Cleveland, Ohio metal disc jockey who, for over 20 years was known as the “Thrash Queen” at non-commercial station, WRUW-FM. She was most recently, the co-host of the station’s popular, Domestic Decay program. For many years, Salamone was an integral part of Cleveland’s punk, metal and thrash scenes. She was even credited for being the first area DJ to play grindcore. While still in her teens, Salamone first appeared as a guest DJ on WUJC’s Metal on Metal, and never looked back. Stella Salamone was 44 when she passed away after being taken off life support at an area hospital. Reports indicated that she had been found unconscious in her home a few days prior and that she had suffered a bad reaction to pain medications.
Born in Denmark, Ole Beich was an aspiring bassist who moved to Los Angeles during the early ’80s to find a career in music. In 1983, he was hired by Tracii Guns to play in his glam metal band, L.A. Guns who would also eventually include Axl Rose on lead vocals. The band soon morphed into Guns ‘N Roses with Beich serving as bassist for a short period. After playing just one show with G ‘N R in 1985, he quit the group and was replaced with Duff McKagen. On October 16, 1991, Ole Beich drowned to death in a Copenhagen lake. The circumstances were reportedly suspicious leading some to speculate that Beich committed suicide.
Steve Lee was the founding lead singer of Swiss metal band, Gotthard. Formed in 1992, the band has sold over two million albums and has seen 11 of their releases reach #1 on the Swiss charts. By most accounts, they are one of the most successful rock bands in Switzerland’s history, the other of course, being Krokus. Gotthard’s sound has been compared to that of Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, and Deep Purple, while Lee’s voice was as strong as any ’80s and ’90s power balladeer. While on a holiday motorcycle tour of the United States, Lee and his group pulled off a Nevada highway to change into rain gear. Shortly thereafter, in what was ruled an accident by local authorities, a truck driver lost control of his vehicle which then crashed into one of the parked bikes, sending it direclty into Lee. Steve Lee died from injuries sustained in the accident. He was 47.
Denis D’Amour was the guitarist for Canadian thrash metal band, Voivod who were one of the first Canadian thrash bands to gain popularity outside of Canada. They, along with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax were ushered in the thrash metal movement of the mid ’80s. Trained in classical violin, D’Amour later switched to guitar, later adding more of a King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Rush approach to his unique guitar playing. D’Amour was diagnosed with colon cancer in the summer of 2005. Having progressed at an alarming rate, surgery was not an option, so D’Amour died as a result of the cancer on August 26, 2005 at the age of 45.