Candlelight vigils held for Suicide Silence vocalist Mitch Lucker
Fans are mourning the death of Mitch Lucker, a vocalist for the heavy metal band Suicide Silence who was killed in a motorcycle accident in Huntington Beach.
Memorials were held in Riverside and Huntington Beach on Thursday night. On Main Street in Huntington Beach, scores held up candles and placed written messages.
The band posted a statement on its Facebook page Thursday morning reading, “There’s no easy way to say this. Mitch passed away earlier this morning from injuries sustained during a motorcycle accident. This is completely devastating to all of us and we offer our deepest condolences to his family. He will be forever in our hearts.”
Lucker, 28, who lived in Huntington Beach, was riding his black 2013 Harley-Davidson south on Main Street at about 8:55 p.m. Wednesday when he hit a light pole near the intersection of 13th Street. According to a release from the department, Lucker apparently lost control of his vehicle and was thrown from it after hitting the pole.
The motorcycle continued moving forward after Lucker was ejected and collided with a pickup truck that was traveling north on Main. The driver of the truck was not injured.
Lucker, who was treated at the scene by paramedics, died shortly after 6 a.m. at UC Irvine Medical Center, according to the Orange County coroner’s office.
The band has released three albums — 2007’s “The Cleansing,” 2009’s “No Time to Bleed” and last year’s “The Black Crown” — and is described on the website of its record label, Century Media, as “the defining modern death metal band for a new generation.”
On the site, Lucker is quoted describing the band’s hardcore musical approach.
“This record just attacks, attacks, attacks,” he says of the “Black Crown” album. “You’re jumping up and down, or you’re smashing something, or you’re stomping something. It’s simply unrelenting.”
Lucker is at least the second heavy metal star to die in Huntington Beach in recent years; Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, the drummer of Avenged Sevenfold, succumbed to a drug overdose at his home in 2009.
Police urged anyone who witnessed the motorcycle crash to call (714) 536-5666.
Twitter: @MichaelMillerHB