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While D.C. is rightfully occupied mourning the tragic murder of Sean Taylor, another mystery is brewing in the equally unexpected death of Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow at 52 years old.
While the cause-of-death report is still a long ways off, we do know that the Las Vegas police have thus far found no suspicious circumstances, suggesting that DuBrow died of natural causes. But family and friends indicate that they’ve had no reason to suspect a particular natural cause. DuBrow had for years been dating a local media personality, Lark Williams, who had gotten him into a clean and healthy lifestyle. She herself told the L.A. Times that “He was as strong as an ox…. He ate well, took a lot of vitamins. He worked out, and of course when he performed it was quite a workout….He never looked better.”
His friend Glenn Hughes, of Deep Purple fame, in the Times story: “‘There’s a myth, I guess, if you’re a rock ‘n’ roller, and you’re of an age, you’re a partyer,'” said Hughes, his proper English upbringing sounding in his voice. ‘But I can report that I never saw Kevin out of control, ever.'”
Everyone seems to agree that things had been a bit rough for DuBrow since he broke up with Williams earlier this month, but again he gave no indication that the problem was any deeper than that. Williams herself says that she was still in communication with him as of a week ago, suggesting that the breakup wasn’t terribly acrimonious, and Hughes notes that DuBrow had just finished a successful tour with Quiet Riot. “He did not sound agitated or paranoid or anything at all — he was just normal Kevin,” he says.
No silly conspiracy theory intended with this post. It’s entirely likely that the final report will be nothing out of the ordinary. But at present there’s an apparent enigma surrounding his sudden death. If he was physically healthy, clean-living, emotionally stable, and there were no suspicious circumstances…well, what happened?