Heavy metal guitarist Mike Scaccia dies at 47

Mike Scaccia, the guitarist of heavy metal bands Rigor Mortis and Ministry, has died from heart attack.

11:11 26 December 2012

Mike Scaccia, the 47-year-old guitarist for heavy metal bands Rigor Mortis and Ministry, has died from heart attack. Rolling Stone magazine reports that Mike was playing at a birthday celebration for Rigor Mortis singer Bruce Corbitt when he collapsed on stage in Texas.

The guitarist was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead. A Fort Worth medical examiner confirmed that Mike died of a sudden heart attack brought on by a heart disease.

 

Al Jourgensen, Ministry's lead singer, confirmed his death on the band’s website. He wrote: "I just lost my lil' brother and my best friend."

 

He continued: "Mikey was not only the best guitar player in the history of music, but he was a close, close, close part of our family - and I just lost a huge chunk of my heart today.

 

"Our lives are forever changed. Life without Mikey is like orange juice without pulp - kind of bland."

 

Scaccia, who formed Rigor Mortis in 1983, was born in Babylon, New York in 1965. In 1989, the guitarist joined Ministry and recorded the band’s most commercially successful album entitled “Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs” in 1992.