Very sad news to pass today.
Darren Henley Peligro, better known as D. H. Peligro, has died.
Peligro was the former drummer of legendary punk band the Dead Kennedys. He also drummed for the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a time, as well. Not a bad musical resume, if you ask me.
It is a bit strange, because I was just thinking about the Dead Kennedys when I heard their song, "Halloween," being played on the most recent edition of the Halloween movies that just came out a few weeks ago (Halloween Ends, which I reviewed yesterday here on the Charbor Chronicles).
When I saw the Kennedys a couple of times some years ago - once in 2002 and, if memory serves correctly, once again in 2010 - Peligro seemed to have had a few sips from the Fountain of Youth. While the other original members (not including Jello Biafra, who never rejoined) clearly had aged considerably, Peligro seemed to look and feel good, with muscular arms earned from years and years of drumming bare, and a very energetic drumming style still in evidence.
But Peligro ultimately succumbed to injuries from a serious fall that he took to the head. Scary to think about. I guess that I was aware that Peligro and the other band members were no longer very young men. But to think that they are reaching the age when they might pass away unexpectedly like this, that indeed now one of them is gone, was a bit stunning once I heard the news. This is different than, say, Kurt Cobain or Chris Cornell, both of whom took their own lives.
My brother was really into the Dead Kennedys, and I got very much into them through him. But this was just after the time when they were still active and at their peak, with Jello at the helm. Still, we both listened to them quite a bit. Jello's lyrics still often resonate. And for a punk band, they actually sometimes had surprisingly complex music, with Peligro, as Ringo Starr would say, tying everyone together in the back with his drumming.
The Dead Kennedys were, and remain, my favorite punk band.
RIP, D.H. Peligro. You will be missed.
D.H. Peligro Dies: Drummer For Dead Kennedys, Red Hot Chili Peppers Was 63 by Bruce Haring, October 29, 2022:
https://deadline.com/2022/10/d-h-peligro-dead-drummer-for-dead-kennedys-red-hot-chili-peppers-was-63-1235158334/
Wow... I'm at a loss for words. Such a random way for him to go, which as cliché as it sounds, really does serve as a stark reminder that things can change in the blink of an eye. He was definitely a vital part of the DK's sound, and I can't think of anyone who would have been a better fit. It's a shame that legal and financial disputes caused such a rift between Jello and the rest of the band. I wonder if D.H.'s passing will result in some sort of thaw there. Yes, R.I.P. Darren, a.k.a. D.H. Peligro.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I found out about D.H. Peligro's passing via an Alternative Tentacles post on Facebook, written apparently by Jello, because he referred to him as his brother in music, and did sound sad. Not sure if that will allow a thaw between he and the surviving members of the Kennedys, though. We'll see.
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