Rockobit: Mike Scaccia

Mike Scaccia, founder member of Rigor Mortis, has died after collapsing on stage.

Scaccia was playing with Ministry - who he joined in 1989, long after that band had abandoned their synthpop roots and more than met Scaccia's death metal halfway. He appears to have suffered a sudden heart attack brought on by heart disease.

Al Jourgensen posted a message on the Ministry website:

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

Scaccia was also, sometimes, a member of Jourgensen and Jello Biafra's sideproject Lard, getting a co-writers credit on Mangoat:

Mike Scaccia was 47.