GWAR's manager, Jack Flanagan, has released the following statement: "It is with a saddened heart that I confirm my dear friend Dave Brockie, artist, musician, and lead singer of GWAR, passed away at approximately 6:50 p.m. EST Sunday, March 23, 2014. His body was found Sunday by his bandmate at his home in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond authorities have confirmed his death and next of kin has been notified. A full autopsy will be performed. He was 50 years old, born August 30, 1963. "My main focus right now is to look after my bandmates and his family. "More information regarding his death shall be released as the details are confirmed." Richmond Police spokeswoman Dionne Waugh said in a statement: "At approximately 6:53 p.m. on Sunday, Richmond Police were called to a residence in the 4800 block of West Seminary Avenue for a report of a deceased individual. When officers arrived, they found David M. Brockie, 50, deceased inside the home. Detectives do not suspect foul play at this time and the Medical Examiner's Office will determine cause of death." Brockie is not the first member of GWAR to die at an early age. GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot, who played the character of Flattus Maximus for over ten years, was discovered dead on the band's tour bus on November 3, 2011. He was 34 years old. In a January 2012 interview with Full Metal Jackie, Brockie stated about Smoot's passing: "I think Cory's death is a big wake-up call for all of us. We all breathed a big sigh of relief when we found out it wasn't a drug overdose, to speak quite frankly. But then to think that he was 34 and died of a heart attack it's really scary." He continued: "Everybody out there needs to take care of themselves, especially you guys who are playing in bands and starting to get up into your 40s and you're all sitting there just like me saying, 'Holy shit, this is still going on and I can keep doing this probably for the rest of my life?' Yeah, you can, but you have to take of yourself. You really, really, really, really do. So I'm trying to quit smoking right now." GWAR's latest album, "Battle Maximus", sold around 3,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 109 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD the band's first full-length studio effort since the loss of Flattus Maximus was issued on September 17, 2013 on Metal Blade Records. GWAR's previous CD, 2010's "Bloody Pit Of Horror", opened with around 2,800 units roughly half of the first-week tally registered by 2009's "Lust In Space", which premiered with 5,000 copies to land at No. 96.
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