Original Third Eye Blind bassist Jason Slater has died aged 49 from liver failure at a hospital in Maui
- Jason Slater, who was an original members of the rock band Third Blind Eye, passed away from liver failure at a hospital in Maui on Wednesday
- The 49-year-old’s daughter, who revealed he kept his condition a secret, said she only learned of his illness last month ‘when she got a call he had landed in the hospital’
- A rep for his former band said: ‘When a spirited member of the music scene is taken too soon it is always a sad time’
- He was with the band when it formed in 1993, recorded their first demo, before leaving within the first year
Jason Slater, who was an original members of the rock band Third Blind Eye, passed away from liver failure at a hospital in Maui, Hawaii on Wednesday.
The 49-year-old’s daughter, who revealed he kept his condition a secret, told TMZ she only learned of his illness last month ‘when she got a call he had landed in the hospital.’
Despite not speaking to their former bassist and backup vocalist since 1996, a rep for the band said ‘when a spirited member of the music scene is taken too soon it is always a sad time.’
Gone too soon: Jason Slater, who was an original members of the rock band Third Blind Eye, passed away from liver failure at a hospital in Maui on Wednesday
Although Slater exited from the Third Blind Eye within a year of its founding and their first demo, he went on to play bass and produce for other bands, including Snake River Conspiracy, Microdot (with George Lynch) and Revenge of the Triads.
He also collaborated on four albums with the group, Queensrÿche, starting with 2005’s Operation: Mindcrime II and American Soldier (2009) to, more recently, Dedicated To Chaos” and 2013 (2011) and Frequency Unknown, released in 2013.
Former colleague of the musicians expressed their devastation on social media, including Forbidden’s guitarist Craig Locicero.
‘The world lost a force of human nature today. Jason Slater has left the building,’ Craig wrote on Facebook. “I’m heartbroken. This hits me right in the gut.’
He continued: ‘From the first day I met Jason at the Music Annex when Forbidden was recording Distortion in 1994, we hit it off. Madden and music was our bond.’