bradley nowell

Being the younger sibling of Sublime frontman Brad Nowell can be hard sometimes for Kellie Nowell, who never grew up wanting the spotlight. On his birthday and the anniversary of his death from an overdose in 1996, generations of fans mourn the loss of Long Beach’s influential frontman, but Kellie says she would opt to stay inside and keep her pain and sorrow to herself. “I think for about 15 years after he died, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I didn’t want to hear music I didn’t want to, you know, just, I just couldn’t handle it,” she tells SPIN. As years went by, the love shown by fans allowed her to open up little by little as emails, Facebook messages and the desire for a tangible connection to Brad showed Kellie the importance of allowing herself to let people in for the sake of hon...