Steve Harwell, the 56-year-old former lead singer of the rock group SMASH MOUTH, has died, band manager Robert Hayes confirmed. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Hayes said Harwell died at his home in Boise, Idaho "surrounded by family and friends." He added that the musician "passed peacefully and c...

This just in

    • astraeus@programming.dev
      26·
      1 year ago

      I know this isn’t a proper excuse for any of his behavior, but he did have serious neurological issues that affected his mental state. This is exactly why he retired, he got abusive with his crowd and realized the next day he needed to stop performing due to the lack of control and awareness he had.

      Does he deserve compassion? That’s really up to personal preference. I recognize his alcoholism and resulting health issues, up to his death, as a tragic loss.

      • FfaerieOxide@kbin.social
        16·
        1 year ago

        I’d be willing to chalk a slurred “I’ll fucking kill your whole family I swear to god.” to his being an alcoholic, but I can’t set aside his actually killing people by holding a show and saying “fuck that covid shit” in the middle of a plague.

        Nazism is also a line that should never be crossed with any justification.

    • QuentinCallaghan@sopuli.xyzOP
      13·
      1 year ago

      That Sturgis motorcycle event is infamous for being a super-spreading event of COVID. However that Nazi salute thing was completely new to me, didn’t know about that. Belongs somewhat to the same category with Phil Anselmo’s similarly infamous Nazi salute at Dimebash 2016, even though Harwell didn’t shout “White power”.

    • Hank@kbin.social
      7·
      1 year ago

      Mentally ill people don’t deserve any kind of sympathy if they show behavior based on their illness I agree on that.

      Dude was basically gone at that point and literally died three years later from a drug that destroyed his brain. I think it’s appropriate to cut him some slack.