Tool’s Maynard James Keenan mourns death of his father
Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has shared a post on social media, announcing the death of his father.
The singer made the post on Sunday (February 9), confirming that his dad, Mike Keenan, had passed away “peacefully”.
He also shared a moving tribute to his father, describing the kind of man he was and some of his favourite anecdotes from his life.
“My Father, Mike Keenan, also my Wrestling coach and HS Teacher, passed early yesterday. He went peacefully in his room. And for those of you who knew him, that sounds quite boring,” the eulogy read.
“He lived an interesting life. He was recently described as ‘Wild and Ungovernable.’ Just one example: Over a year ago he was hit by the train in Scottville on his way home from a pow wow. Survived, but refused to go to the hospital for fear they would keep him from going competitive skiing in Helsinki in 7 days. With broken ribs.
“Totaled the truck. MY truck, btw. Hit by the train that only comes through Scottville once a month,” he added. “This was my father. And he will be missed. Be Ungovernable. Be Wild. We will miss you, Mike.”
Find the full post below, where Keenan also shared a number of photos of his father – including images where he is seen with him as a child, bearing a striking resemblance.
As reported by Consequence, Maynard’s parents, Michael and Judith, split in 1968 when he was four-years-old. Following the separation, Michael moved to Scottville in Michigan, and Judith later suffered a severe medical issue in the mid-’70s.
Maynard would go on to move in with his dad and has previously credited the decision with inspiring him to explore music.
Last month, Tool surprised fans in California by breaking out a surprise set at the Bass Magazine Awards, performing to celebrate bassist Justin Chancellor’s win of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
At the intimate event, the band performed two fan-favourite tracks: ‘Schism’ and ‘Jambi’.
The surprise set at the Bass Magazine Awards came ahead of the band gearing up to host the first instalment of their own festival, Tool In The Sand.
Last year, Chancellor spoke with NME about the pressure from fans to release new music, and when they hope to release the highly anticipated follow-up to ‘Fear Inoculum’, which came out in 2019.
“The only pressure comes when we announce that we’re working on something new, because then we have to make our own predictions for when it’ll come out, and obviously you feel like you let people down if you don’t release it in a certain amount of time,” he said.
“It’s a nice feeling that people still want new stuff, but also they’ve got to understand that it’s not the easiest thing to do. It’s not a simple thing and it’s not always a natural thing that comes at the time you want it to come. Art is a very strange animal and it has its own schedule.”
The post Tool’s Maynard James Keenan mourns death of his father appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME
