Acclaimed heavy metal singer Warrel Dane, who achieved fame with the bands SANCTUARY and NEVERMORE, died on Wednesday (December 13) in São Paulo, Brazil. The American musician, who was in the process of making his second solo album, had a heart attack during the night and could not be revived.
Guitarist Johnny Moraes, who was a member of Dane‘s solo band, was with the singer around midnight when Warrel started to feel bad.
“He died in the night,” Moraes told Brazil’s UOL. “He was in the apartment where he stayed during the recording of the album when it happened. I gave him cardiac massage and we called the Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU), who came very fast, but when they arrived, he was already dead.”
According to Moraes, Dane — whose Wikipedia page erroneously states he was 48 but who is believed to have been in his late 50s — had a history of addictions and health issues. “His health was already very weak because of his diabetes and his problems with alcoholism,” he said. “He was already facing a lot of health problems.”
The instrumental parts for Dane‘s second solo album were almost completed and he had begun laying down his vocals shortly before his death. The musicians are thinking about finishing the record with guest singers as a posthumous tribute, but no decision has yet been made.
In a 2016 interview with Brazil’s Imprensa Do Rock, Dane alluded to his alcoholism while answering a question about how he takes care of his voice. “The most important thing for a singer is you have to get a lot of rest, a lot of sleep,” he said. “You have to drink a lot of water. You have to hydrate yourself. And you… I know I have a bad reputation about alcohol, but you kind of have to stay away. So I’m a little better now these days than I was. I know I have a bad reputation for drinking too much, but I don’t so much anymore. And you just… you just have to realize your instrument and know your limitations and know your strengths. I used to, when I was younger, sing in the stratosphere — very high. As you get older, and I will completely admit this, I can’t sing that high anymore. So now I focus on my strengths. And it’s no secret that I’m a fan of goth music, so I love singing low.”
NEVERMORE effectively split up in 2011 when guitarist Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams announced their departure from the band due to personal differences with Dane and bassist Jim Sheppard. Warrel later described NEVERMORE in an interview as “the greatest band that alcohol ever ruined.”
Dane told “The Jasta Show” last year that “rarely” talked to Jeff, who is now in ARCH ENEMY. But, he insisted, “we don’t hate each other. We’re not enemies. We’re still friends — friends that rarely speak to each other, unfortunately.”
SANCTUARY, which reformed in 2010 after an eighteen-year break, has spent recent years touring in support of its comeback album, 2014’s “The Year The Sun Died”, as well as 2016’s “Inception”, an album comprised of presumed lost 1986 studio recordings.
