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It deeply saddened me to hear about the loss of Drowning Pool's Dave Williams. This page is my own homage to a fallen hero, mentor, friend and artist. I was fortunate enough to have been able to hit OZZfest 2002 in Columbus, Ohio on August 3rd. Drowning Pool was also staying at the Holiday Inn I was at, and I had the chance to hang out with Dave and CJ that night after the show. I felt bad about not being able to stay for their set, but they understood. We talked about differant things, and how CJ had just been endorsed by a guitar company. They were making him a double neck, with this awesome chrome finished front. He was beyond excited, and Dave seemed to be very proud of that.
"The crowd is gonna go nuts when I bring that bad boy out onto stage. We're doing Metallica's CREEPING DEATH live for this tour. The crowd loves it. We've been getting an incredible response," CJ remarked.
We drank JEAGERMEISTER straight outta the bottle (and the freezer), and watched some old MAD SEASON and a Johnny Cash video. CJ said he'd leave if Dave continued with said video. Dave refused to shut off the ancient country video, stating that if he (refering to me) didn't like the video that he (still talking about me) would leave ... I faked getting up, and Dave firmly put his hand on my shoulder and asked me to stay. "If you don't wanna watch it, I'll Shut it off," Dave told me. I didn't mind.
Dave told me about how they were trying to get a tour together with Ill Nino, Living Colour, and another band. "We'll call it the HICKS, SPICKS, GOOKS & SPOOKS tour. We'll put it on a t-shirt, and everyone will be okay with it. It's not meant to be offensive to any group or minority, just poking fun."
CJ asked what I was doing to far from home, and I told him I was also photographing the kidneythieves show that was Aug 4th. He then sang to me the chorus of BEFORE I'M DEAD, and told me to let them know he was a fan and wanted to work with them at some point. (I told Free and Bruce the next day that what CJ had said, and both were excited to hear about that.
I got my promo TEAR AWAY single autographed, and parted ways with handshakes and hugs. Genuine southern hospitality. I'll never forget that night.
Where ever you are Dave, thank you ...
When I first heard of Dave's death I was actually on the air hear at Lazer 103.3. I remember it very well!! Andy Hall was at Daytonas doing the Hump Day Happy hour and I was surfing around the internet and came across a site that had an unofficial statement that Dave Williams was dead so it was really frantic around the station for the simple fact that it was only a few days away from LAZERFEST and Drowning Pool was one of our headliners so we were scrambling to find the truth about the death and rearrange the line-up!! I still have my ALL ACCESS pass for LAZERFEST that has Drowning Pool on it so it is kind of a cool memento for me!!
Overnight Disc Jockey for Lazer 103.3
It was always Daves goal to buy his parents a new house when he made it big. To honor Daves dream, Wind-up is donating money from the sale of the DVD to build his parents a house.
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The year 2001 saw Drowning Pool emerge as the breakout band from OZZfest. The album's lead single "BODIES," took over MTV, the radio airwaves and pages of magazines around the world. the release of "SINNER's" second single, "TEAR AWAY", only helped to fuel the platinum album sales only 6 weeks after it's release. Drowning Pool has given the youth of America and The World a soundtrack they both relate to and understand.
I met Dave backstage at Ozzfest 2001, he was a big fan of my band. We then toured together again in Europe & Ozzfest 2002. He was an amazing performer, an inspiration to many bands. I remember at one of the signing booths we shared at Ozzfest this year, the crowd was getting rowdy, girls exposing themselves as the band cheered them on. The next day, Dave came up to me, apologized for the disrespect, & kissed me on the head. Dave was a gentleman & an artist. Our thoughts & prayers are with his family, friends, bandmates & fans. We never saw Dave without a smile on his face. Who you saw onstage was who he was. The world is a much darker place without him here. He will be missed. -- Otep
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DROWNING POOL MEMBERS OFFER COMMENT
Surviving members C.J. Pierce, Stevie Benton, and Mike Luce shared the following thought:
We lost a band-mate and a best friend today. Dave Williams was one of a kind, and a friend to everyone he met. He was a good man, and a giving person. Not a day went by when he wasn't giving somebody a little present, and touching everyone around him with his passion. He was full of energy until the day he passed, and undeniably full of life. To the end, we were having a great time. We will miss him. |
Dave Williams - Vocals
Mike Luce - Drums
C.J. Pierce - Guitar
Stevie Benton - Bass
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| OZZfest 2002 Europe |
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| Drowning Pool & SoaD |
Drowning Pool Frontman Died Of Heart Disease
DROWNING POOL frontman Dave Williams died of cardiomyopathy, a disorder affecting the heart muscle resulting in inadequate heart pumping, according to a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner's Office for the Northern District of Virginia. The disorder can be caused by several factors, including viral infections, heart attacks, alcoholism, and severe hypertension, among others. On August 14th, the 30-year-old frontman was found dead in a bunk on his tour bus. The band was in Manassas, Virginia, following day's Ozzfest stop in nearby Bristow.The coroner's toxicology report has officially confirmed that Williams' death was due to natural causes and was not drug or alcohol related, as had been widely speculated.
"The news is in. The toxicology report came back negative," the band's tour manager, nicknamed "Shawdog", wrote via the band's official web site. "'Nothing found' and this is the truth my friends."
In a prior post, the tour manager had adamantly denied reports that Williams had choked on his own vomit, emphasizing that there was no way to immediately tell the cause of Williams' death, as he "looked like he was sleeping" when he was discovered. "The band and crew were not up drinking like frat boys, taking drugs etc.," Shawdog wrote of the band's overnight travels to Manassas from Noblesville, Indiana, where DROWNING POOL had played the night before.
"We were watching DVDs and I even shut Dave's bunk T.V. off at 5:00 a.m. to the sound of his snores," Shawdog continued. "It's no secret Dave loved to drink and enjoy life but this was not the night of hardcore parties... Dave was not a pot head â did not do heroin, etc."
Drowning Pool guitarist C.J. Pierce was equally adamant about the fact that there had been nothing unusual about the last night of Williams' life.
"People have been asking and I want everyone to know, that night was no different from any other â it was actually pretty tame," Pierce said at the singer's funeral on August 18th.
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