Longtime rock singer Mike Howe, whose career included multiple stints with the band Metal Church, died Monday at age 55.
Howe died at his home in Eureka, Calif., Metal Church announced in a Facebook post.
Mike Howe performs with Metal Church at the Sweden Rock Festival 2017 in Blekinge.
Mike Howe performs with Metal Church at the Sweden Rock Festival 2017 in Blekinge. (Gonzales Photo/Terje Dokken/)
“We are devastated and at a loss for words,” the announcement reads. “Please respect our privacy and the Howe family’s privacy during this most difficult time.”
Howe joined Metal Church in 1988, eight years after the heavy metal band debuted in San Francisco.
He remained the group’s lead singer until the band broke up in 1996, and contributed to the Metal Church albums “Blessing in Disguise,” “The Human Factor” and “Hanging in the Balance.
“When Metal Church broke up it was a very sad thing,” Howe told the music outlet Loudwire last year. “I loved being in Metal Church and I felt that was my identity. I left primarily because of the business of music and how difficult it was navigating management, record companies and outside forces that were ruining the band and my love of music.”
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He did not return in 1998 when the band reunited, but ultimately rejoined Metal Church in 2015 and was part of two more studio albums, “XI” and “Damned If You Do,” before his death.
Metal Church has not announced a cause of death for Howe, and remembered the singer as “our brother, our friend and true legend of heavy metal music.”
Before he joined Metal Church the first time, Howe performed with the rock groups Snair and Heretic.
