Sad news to report: Wayne Swinny, the co-founding guitarist of Saliva, passed away this afternoon (March 22nd) from a spontaneous brain hemorrhage while on tour. The nu-metal veterans — best known for the hits “Click Click Boom,” “Your Disease” and “Always” — were promoting a new single, “High on Me.”
According to a statement earlier today from his bandmates, Swinny was discovered Tuesday morning in medical distress and paramedics were called. He was transported to a hospital where he was placed in the intensive care unit.
“I’m not even sure what to think or how to feel right now,” Saliva frontman Bobby Amaru, who replaced original vocalist Josey Scott in 2011, commented. “My heart aches for Wayne’s family, his friends, and anyone who had the joy of being around him. My heart aches for his daughter Nikki. He loved that little girl so much. He was a guitar hero onstage with all the rock ‘n’ roll swag that most guitar players dream of. Offstage he was a proud father, an Ancient Aliens expert, and an incredible human who had zero enemies! He would go out of his way to make sure you had a good time. I’m grateful that I got to share almost 12 years of my life with Wayne on the stage and most importantly off the stage. He was the older brother I never had. I learned so much from him and we had a fucking blast together! I will cherish it all for the rest of my life! God bless you, Wayne. I know we’ll meet again!!”
