Another One: Pop Star Dead at 47, Cause of Death Reported as 'Unknown'
If you’ve been paying any attention to the reports of unexpected deaths over the past three years, you might have come to expect a certain cause of death. That cause we see so often is “unknown.”
It has happened again at a time when many theories are being offered for what has appeared to be a spike in deaths with no known cause.
Brian “Brizz” Gillis, a founder of the ‘90s band LFO died Wednesday at 47.
His cause of death is unknown, according to Fox News.
Gillis founded the band in 1995 with Rich Cronin (the initials stand for Lyte Funkie Ones). Brad Fischetti joined soon after and the group was signed by Trans Continental Records.
Musician Brian “Brizz” Gillis, who was best known as the co-founder of ’90s boy band LFO of “Summer Girls” fame, has died at age 47. https://t.co/jZ2p6eYuXq
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) March 31, 2023
The band’s big hit was June 1999’s “Summer Girls,” which came along after Gillis left the band to be replaced by Devin Lima.
Cronin died in 2010 of leukemia at the age of 36. Lima died in 2018 at the age of 41 of Stage 4 adrenal cancer.
After “Summer Girls,” the band had a hit with “Girl on TV,” released in November 1999, which included a music video that starred Jennifer Love Hewitt.
The band broke up in 2002 and reunited later before Cronin’s death, according to Rolling Stone. Gillis did not join in the reunion.
LFO’s Brian ‘Brizz’ Gillis has died at age 47. https://t.co/npRKt2SHDV
— billboard (@billboard) March 31, 2023
Fischetti took to Instagram to post a memorial to days and friends that have passed.
“Every story is made up of chapters. Some develop naturally. Some you have to cut up in your mind. The first two chapters of the LFO story lost a main character yesterday. Brian ‘Brizz’ Gillis passed away. I don’t have details and it wouldn’t be my place to share them if I did. I am really struggling to process this tragic loss. I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it; the LFO Story is a tragedy. If you know what I’ve been doing, you know I’m trying to bring light into the darkness. Trying find redemption in pain and suffering. Trying to honor the legacy,” he wrote.
“Today I honor my former bandmate and friend, Brizz. If you watched the LFO Story livestream or have seen the band and me play it live, you know what Brian meant to LFO. If it wasn’t for his hard work and dedication in the early days of LFO, the first two chapters, the LFO you came to know and (hopefully) love would not exist,” he wrote.
As with most relationships among band members, Fischetti said his with Gillis was “complex.”
“It contained moments of great tribulation but also of great joy. I learned a lot from him about the business of music and how to put together and rock a show. And it’s those positive aspects of our relationship that I will lean on now and forever,” he wrote.
“I’ve prayed for Brian every day for many years. And I will continue to pray for him,” he wrote.
“I know that soon or maybe already, Brizz will be greeted by Rich and Devin. And I hope that together, they will make some sweet sounds. I would really like that,” he wrote, adding, “Rest east bro. Rest easy.”
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