Photo Credit: Pascal Müller
Bob Heathcote, the former Suicidal Tendencies bassist, dies in a motorcycle crash.
The musician’s son confirmed the news on Facebook that Bob Heathcote had died following a motorcycle accident over the weekend. He was 58 years old.
“I cannot put words together other than the fact that this is a loss I will hardly recover (if ever), and the fact that he was a hard-working father who raised five children, including me,” Chris Heathcote said in his post. “His interests included music, traveling, race cars, and attending race tracks. He was also a supporter of the Dodgers.”
Chris Heathcote explained that Suicidal Tendencies recruited his father to play bass on their 1988 album, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today, which featured the title track as well as the single “Trip at the Brain.”
“Those two songs garnered airplay from Headbangers Ball on MTV and active rock radio stations, including the defunct legendary Long Beach-based radio station 105.5 KNAC,” Heathcote’s post continued. “After that album, he left S.T. and the band would replace him with future Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.”
Bob Heathcote also appeared, though uncredited at the time, on three tracks on Suicidal Tendency’s fourth album, Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Sh–… Déjà Vu.
“Each and every moment I’ve shared with my dad will forever remain as a treat,” Heathcote’s son concluded. “Thank you dad for everything you did for me and my family. I will miss not only your keen sense of humor, but you and me doing a lot of things we loved doing together, including talking about or listening to music, traveling, going to the beach, going to Mexican restaurants, attending Dodger games, etc. R.I.P. Robert Monroe Heathcote, May 27th, 1964 – July 24th, 2022.”
Suicidal Tendencies’ most recent album was Still Cyco Punk After All These Years in 2018. The band has yet to make an official statement about Heathcote’s passing on their social media channels.