Steve Lee (Gotthard) RIP

[Harvester]

Blabbermouth:

According to the Swiss daily newspaper Blick, vocalist Steve Lee of Swiss hard rock veterans GOTTHARD was killed in a motorcycle accident in Nevada. He was 47 years old.

Lee died yesterday (Tuesday, October 5) after being clipped a semitrailer shortly after 5:00 p.m., Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Joe Fackrell said, according to KVVU-TV.

Fackrell said a group of motorcyclists had stopped on the side of northbound Interstate 15, about 50 miles north of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Lee died at the scene, Fackrell said.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Bassist Chris von Rohr of fellow Swiss hard rock veterans KROKUS told Blick, "I am speechless; I don't know even know what to say. I express my deepest condolences to his parents."

An official statement on the matter from the band's management and record company is expected later today.

 

[DADRocks]

Just read this, so sad news!! This was one of the few bands I really wanted to see and was going to try to travel to Europe to do so. Just tragic.

 

[Justin G]

I'm a huge fan of Gotthard. This news is just devastating.

 

[LarryD]

Im' sorry to hear about this bro -- I know they were one of your favorite bands..... R.I.P.

 

[labrekk]

R.I.P. Steve. I really enjoyed his vocals and I like lots of Gotthard stuff.

 

[AngraRULES]

Wow, that is awful. Such bad news to wake up to.

RIP!

 

[TribunalRecords]

this seriously sucks, bad. RIP.

 

[TychoCelchu]

=(

 

[BenMech]

RIP. He had a pretty good voice for the genre.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

Don't even know where to start.........Love this band and his voice was the main reason

 

[TwizstedJesus]

Wow! That is brutally suck-like. RIP

 

[KingsGene]

What a huge loss....RIP.

 

[DemonOfTheWoods]

Oh my God...

You will be severely missed but never forgotten!

Steve had one of the greatest voices in hard rock.

Neither Steve nor Gotthard ever got the credit they deserved.

Rock in Peace, Steve!

 

[J. Golden]

Well this was not the best news to wake up to. Sorry to hear of this.

 

[templeofmax]

We were just talking about having them at a PPUSA!!!! What a loss to the music world!!!

 

[Wayniac]

Shame. My condolences to his family, friends, and the fans

 

[Heavenly Call]

Noooo! That is so sad! Wow, my sincerest condolences to his family and friends. Wow.

 

[Fire breath]

Wow. Echo what everyone says. Steve Lee had a great voice for heavy rock and it's snuffed out now. RIP.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

Un fricken believable.....
Really liked the band and thought maybe we'd see them at PPUSA some day.... RIP Steve Lee

 

[Rezz]

Nuclear Blast has put out some more information about what happened:

The GOTTHARD singer had flown to the U.S. with some biker friends just this weekend to fulfil a long-cherished dream for which he'd never had the time, due to his heavy touring schedule for many years. It was to be two weeks through the states on a Harley Davidson. The 21 Swiss bikers started their journey on Sunday on a total of 12 motorcycles. On Tuesday 5 October, about 50 miles from Las Vegas, the group had stopped at the roadside to put on their rain gear as it had started to rain. On the slippery road, the trailer of a passing truck began to skid. The driver attempted evasive action but his trailer clipped five of the motorcycles parked at the roadside; one of them hit Steve Lee. Rescue services attempted resuscitation but efforts were stopped after 20 minutes. At 16:13 local time, Steve Lee was pronounced dead.