Mike Scaccia — who joined Ministry during the Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour and went on to play with various Al Jourgensen-led projects including Revolting Cocks, 1000 Homo DJs and Lard — died early this morning after collapsing on-stage in Fort Worth, Texas, during a performance with his metal band Rigor Mortis.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Scaccia, 47, was pronounced dead at 12:26 a.m. at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, about 45 minutes after police first responded to The Rail Club, where Scaccia collapsed while performing with Rigor Mortis.
The newspaper cites a report from Blabbermouth.net that indicates Scaccia asked for the club’s strobe lights to be turned off before suffering a seizure and collapsing on stage.
Rigor Mortis’ Scaccia first joined Ministry during the band’s 1989-90 tour, and stayed on to play on the industrial group’s 1992 commercial breakthrough Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs and its follow-up, 1996’s Filth Pig. He left the band, but rejoined in the 2000s, most recently playing on last year’s reunion album Relapse.
On Facebook this morning, Ministry posted a photo of Scaccia and Jourgensen with the statement: “MICHAEL RALPH SCACCIA …Our Dearest Friend. We love you. We miss you. God Rest Your Precious Soul. We cannot fathom this loss.”
Jourgensen followed up with the following message:
From Uncle Al….. 12/23/2012
I JUST LOST MY LIL’ BROTHER AND MY BEST FRIEND – THE 13TH PLANET COMPOUND IS DEVASTATED,COMPLETELY IN SHOCK AND SHATTERED. 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. I HAVE NO WORDS TO EXPRESS WHAT THIS GUY MEANT TO ME, MY FAMILY, MY CAREER….EVERYTHING!
GET TO KNOW HIS LEAD PARTS – FOR THEY ARE IN THE PANTHEON OF MUSIC! UNFORTUNATELY, MOST OF YOU DIDN’T GET TO KNOW MIKEY’S SOUL -WHICH IS IN THE PANTHEON OF HUMANITY. HE IS MY HERO, MY FRIEND AND MY IDOL. MIKEY WAS ALWAYS BESIDE ME – MY RIGHT HAND MAN – THROUGH THICK AND THIN, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY AND THE BEAUTIFUL.
REST IN PEACE MY BROTHER, MY FRIEND, MY HEART. PLEASE PRAY FOR MIKE SCACCIA AND JENNY, HIS WIFE AND THEIR CHILDREN, AND HIS FAMILY…..AL
…guy on the left of the pic…
So sad to hear…. I have been a fan of ministry since the 90’s. I also have epilepsy, and is the very same reason why I ask for no strobes when performing with my band during li e events…. Very scary… Rip brutha!!
Glad I saw him with ministry a few times. Great guy and an even better human! Say hey to Paul Raven for me Mikey… RIP
He was also one of the fastest technical shredders out there from his days in Rigor Mortis and on the same level as Buckethead. Such a shame.
Quoting Wikipedia on the death of Mike Scaccia: “Although initial reports suggested a seizure possibly caused by the strobe lighting at the venue, the coroner indicated the cause of death to be ‘sudden heart attack brought on by heart disease’.” This could mean only thing: Lifestyle, Lifestyle, … Lifestyle. Which of course primarily translates to Diet, Diet, Diet. What a S.A.D. commentary on our times, when people actually believe that heart attacks are random events.
Sad news. R i p.
R.I.P. A great man, great musician.