Boston's Brad Delp Dead At 55

[stratman]

Boston's Brad Delp, the signature voice of Boston died of a suicide at the age off 55, he'll be missed, unique voice, that to me brings good memories of youth, what a shame, I guess a reunion will be out of the question.

 

[skizzerflake]

Boston's Brad Delp, the signature voice of Boston died of a suicide at the age off 55, he'll be missed, unique voice, that to me brings good memories of youth, what a shame, I guess a reunion will be out of the question.

The story out today is that he suffered from severe depression, left a long note and even had a backup suicide mode. That's real sad to see someone want to go that badly, even when he was engaged and had upcoming concerts. I was never more than a modest fan of Boston personally, but they were a really iconic band of that era.

 

[MDS]

Why is that the people that others consider to be extremely successful and have the world by the b*lls are the ones that decide to take their own life? I can't see anything that could be so bad that you'd want to kill yourself.

 

[skizzerflake]

From a psychological perspective, sometimes the demons that drive people to do great things also drive them to suicide. Many great historical figures have been hounded by depression including icons like Lincoln who often disappeared for periods of days (imagine a president who did that today) and suffered from paralyzing morbid depressions (even before he was a war president). I don't like sounding like a pharmaceutical ad, but there are actually organic imbalances that can trigger this. Unfortunately guys, especially macho ones like rock stars, often resist asking for help lest they see themselves a being weak. When it comes to suicide, there are two types...the ones like taking a bunch of pills and then calling your friends which are meant to be manipulative and then the guy type that is methodical and lethal, like Delp. The guys are more likely to "succeed".

 

[Nick250]

Depression is biological medical condition. It's often heredity and it does not matter how much money you have or how many caring family members and friends you have. From Lincoln's writings about his depression "it seems I must recover or die". The author William Styron (sp?) "Despair beyond despair". Tough stuff and a sad that some one is in so much pain that they can think of only one way of getting out of it.

 

[audiofox]

A sad loss. I would think that depression and the pressure to overachieve would be a deadly combination, especially for someone like Delp who had tasted the fruits of massive success but watched it slip away. Delp's voice was one of the best of the 70s rock bands, and it was a perfect match for the soaring guitar solos that was the other signature sound of Boston's songs. Their first album is one of my favorite test disks (MoFi vinyl or gold CD-both are great).

 

[stratman]

A sad loss. I would think that depression and the pressure to overachieve would be a deadly combination, especially for someone like Delp who had tasted the fruits of massive success but watched it slip away. Delp's voice was one of the best of the 70s rock bands, and it was a perfect match for the soaring guitar solos that was the other signature sound of Boston's songs. Their first album is one of my favorite test disks (MoFi vinyl or gold CD-both are great).

Obviously we're all second guessing, but if I was a betting man I think you hit the proverbial nail on the head. These guys were nowhere (maybe except Tom being an EE working for Polaroid) suddenly over-nite stars then just as quickly pffffft. I really liked Boston, Scholz's guitar work melded perfectly with Delp's vocals, but for whatever reasons these guys couldn't keep it together long enough to release worthwhile material.

 

[genesis471]

I've never been a huge Boston fan, but do like some of there tunes. What a great voice though, so unique. It's a shame someone with such a gift to entertain the rest of us, is gone.

Mike