Mike Scaccia, guitarist for metal bands Ministry, Rigor Mortis and the Revolting Cocks, collapsed while playing on stage Saturday night in Fort Worth, TX. He was 47.
Mike Scaccia of Ministry and Revolting Cocks
Scaccia was playing at the 50th birthday party of Ministry lead singer Bruce Corbitt when he collapsed. A number of reports are saying that Scaccia had asked that the strobe lights be turned off before going into a seizure. A few sources are reporting it was a heart attack.
Scaccia met Harden Harrison and Casey Orr in 1983 and formed Rigor Mortis. The trio, who had a shared interest in horror films, added vocalist Corbitt and developed an extremely heavy, violent form of thrash metal. Spending much of their time in Texas, they were credited with creating the heavy metal scene in the state.
In 1986, they recorded a demo which led to their being signed by Capitol Records where they released their major label debut, Rigor Mortis, in 1988. The next year they signed with Metal Blade to release the EP Freaks and the full length album Rigor Mortis vs. The World. Overall, the band and their constantly evolving sound never found a huge fan base and they broke up in 1991. Scaccia joined a reworked version of the band in 2003 and was still playing with them, including Saturday night’s show.
While playing with Rigor Mortis, Scaccia also took on lead guitar duties for industrial metal band Ministry where he stayed until 1995, appearing on their two biggest selling album, Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs and Filth Pig. He has since returned twice, from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to his passing.
Other bands in which Scaccia was involved included the Revolting Cocks (aka, RevCo), Lard, BloHole, League of Blind Women and Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters.
Corbitt posted on his Facebook “My brother is gone! The only reason I am who I am is because of this man. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t even be in a band. RIP Mike – the greatest guitar player I ever knew. I’m proud to say that I was always Mike Scaccia’s biggest fan, and always will be.”
