Kevin DuBrow coked himself to death - coroner

Kevin DuBrown, singer with Quiet Riot who died last month, had overdosed on cocaine, according to Samantha Charles, the Clark County coroner. She's ruled the death accidental.

Metalobit: Kevin DuBrow

The death has been announced of Kevin DuBrow, singer with Quiet Riot.

Born in California, but growing up influenced by British rock acts, in 1973 DuBrown joined Randy Rhoad's band Quiet Riot. The name, according to DuBrow, came from a conversation witj Rick Parfitt in which Parfitt suggested 'Quite Right' would be a great name for a band. But then, Parfitt was in a band called Status Quo.

The band didn't survive Rhoads' departure to join Ozzy Osbourne at the end of the 70s, with DuBrow forming a group which traded under his own surname for a while. The death of Rhoads in 1982 gave DuBrow the impetus to revive the Quiet Riot name - the record label suggested that it might be a good marketing move; and so it proved. Metal Health became the first debut metal album to make number one in the US.

The flaw was that the band struggled to be greater than the sum of its influences: both their key hits were covers of Slade songs, Cum on Feel the Noize and Mama Weer All Crazy Now. The frustrations of trying to coin something as memorable are sometimes blamed for DuBrow's erratic behaviour; something of a liability and with a reputation for mouthing off, eventually he was fired from his own band during a date in Hawaii.

DuBrow then launched another band, Heat, which once again morphed into another version of Quiet Riot. DuBrow was still touring with a line-up of the band this autumn.

[Update: Metal Health, not Mental Health. Thanks to - cough - Karl T's "friend" for pointing that out]