Urge Overkill drummer Blackie Onassis has died, aged 57
Johnny “Blackie Onassis” Rowan, the former drummer of Chicago alt-rock band Urge Overkill, has died at the age of 57.
Today (June 15), the band took to social media to share a statement announcing Rowan’s death. “Urge Overkill is saddened to report that Blackie has passed away. Please respect our privacy at this time. We are sending much love to his family and all his fans. We know he will be missed,” the band wrote on Instagram.
At the time of publishing, no further information – including a cause of death – has been shared. Rowan was aged 57.
In a follow-up post on Instagram, the band shared an image of Rowan with actor and musician Jack Black. “Thank you for the love and support today. We wanted to share this photo of Blackie, we hope you like it as much as we do,” Urge Overkill wrote in their caption. It is unclear when the photograph in the post was taken.
Jack Black commented on the post, writing in tribute to Rowan: “Loved Blackie. ‘Supersonic Storybook’. ‘Saturation’. ‘Exit the Dragon’. Some of my favourite albums of all time! He was a wild card and a force of nature. Gonna miss him.”
See the post below.
Blackie Onassis joined Urge Overkill in the early 1990s, and drummed and sang on three of the band’s albums – ‘The Supersonic Storybook’ (1991), ‘Saturation’ (1993) and ‘Exit The Dragon (1995)’ – as well as their six-track 1992 EP ‘Stull’.
Onassis also famously performed on the band’s cover of Neil Diamond’s ‘Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon’, which would go on to feature in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
Urge Overkill disbanded in 1997 and reformed in 2004 without Onassis.
The post Urge Overkill drummer Blackie Onassis has died, aged 57 appeared first on NME.
Surej Singh
NME
