Died On This Date (December 13, 2001) Chuck Schuldiner / The Father of Death Metal
themusicsover Chuck Schuldiner
May 13, 1967 – December 13, 2001
Chuck Schuldiner was a rock singer, songwriter and guitarist who has been called the “father of death metal” for creating a genre by marrying the best elements of British metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest with those of thrash bands like Slayer and Mercyful Fate. Schuldiner began learning the acoustic guitar before he was ten-year old, but soon grew tired of it, so his parents bought him an electric guitar and amps which he took too with a vengeance. In 1983, he formed his first band, Mantas who eventually morphed into Death, a band that would define the death metal genre, much in the same way Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys spawned bluegrass. Over the next decade, Death released seven killer albums that have come to influence a new generation of headbangers. In May of 1999, Chuck Schuldiner was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer. The tumor was removed during an expensive procedure that was partially paid for by the metal community. Unfortunately, the cancer came back in 2001 and lead to Schuldiner’s death on December 13, 2001. He was 34.
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