Drummerobit: Scott Columbus

Scott Columbus, former drummer with Manowar, has died, says former bandmate Ross Friedman.

Columbus joined the band shortly after their first headlining European tour; he remained a member until 2008 when he "agreed to disagree on a few points of interest" with band leader Joey DeMaio. He remained on good terms with some of the band, though, still playing with Friedman; officially, he was just taking time out following "personal tragedies" but he made it pretty clear to Classic Rock that there was more to it than that:

Well, you can refer to a few questions ago when I agreed to disagree with Mr DeMaio. In other words, maybe that’s a question he will answer if you ask him. I am not in the band. Period. There you go.

He'd previously had a spell out of the band in the early 90s; he again would dismiss the official version of his time out as a convenient fiction.

Scott Columbus was 54.