The tragic onstage death of Megadeth’s Nick Menza
Although many rock stars may profess their wish to die on stage, few would actually expect that to happen. Despite all the luxuries and glamour that fame has afforded a person, the end of someone’s life, no matter how untimely, is a moment often sought to occur behind closed doors in the comfort of loved ones’ surroundings. Unfortunately, that fate was not bestowed upon thrash metal band Megadeth’s former drummer, Nick Menza, who faced his death in the most starkly tragic public setting imaginable.
Megadeth had soared to critical acclaim throughout the 1980s and 1990s with their albums So Far, So Good… So What!, Rust in Peace, and Countdown to Extinction. As part of this, Menza had played a critical role in the success of touring the former album and the recording of the latter two, despite tumultuous tensions within the band that involved various lineup changes throughout this time as well as after it. Even after his own firing from the band in 1998, Menza continued to enjoy a lucrative solo career and proceeded to work as a session drummer for various other bands. His life, in this sense, was a success cut devastatingly short.
The fateful event occurred on May 21st, 2016, while Menza was on stage with his band OHM at the intimate Baked Potato jazz club in Los Angeles. Just three songs into the set, Menza collapsed in front of his audience and fellow bandmates. He was rushed to hospital, but despite best efforts, he was sadly pronounced dead as a result of a heart attack. He was only 51 years old.
In the wake of Menza’s passing, tributes flooded in from all over the place, from the jazz club itself, where he died, to his former Megadeth bandmates. The group’s founder and frontman, Dave Mustaine, simply tweeted, “Tell me this isn’t true,” upon hearing the news. The thrash metal world had lost one of its brightest drumming lights, the likes of which could never be seen again.
Not only that but most tragic of all was the fact that Menza had been taken in his prime just when he was set to go on to more greatness. His biographer and friend J Marshall Craig noted in tribute the day after his death, “He just spent nearly two weeks with the boys in the Pacific north-west and was absolutely glowing. He was scheduled to fly to my home in Cape Cod tomorrow so that we could finish the comic-book version of the book we wrote on his life, MenzaLife, both of which were slated for release late next month. This morning, we are all too numb to think about anything but Nick’s family.”
Menza was an incomparable talent and a shell-shocking loss for Megadeth fans. The critical success of their albums, particularly their most acclaimed Countdown to Extinction, can be owed in no small part to his contribution, from which the band have continued to profit from in respect to their still active career and upcoming 17th album.
He may not have stayed with them the whole time, but Nick Menza’s impact on Megadeth will be forever.
