In the early morning hours of April 15th, 2010, Type O Negative fans were devastated when it was confirmed that the band’s iconic frontman, Peter Steele, had passed away the day prior due to complications from diverticulitis at only 48 years old.
While Steele had experienced legal troubles and battled addiction in the mid-2000s, he was actually sober and looking forward to writing new Type O Negative material at the time of his passing. So, his death came as a shock to his bandmates, as the group had just recently signed a new record deal and even secured rehearsal space to work on a new album.
Heavy Consequence recently caught up with Type O Negative drummer Johnny Kelly to discuss his latest project, Eye Am (featuring Type O bandmate Kenny Hickey and members of Crowbar), and during the conversation, he recounted the difficult period in his life following Steele’s passing. Since continuing Type O Negative without Steele was completely out of the question, Kelly faced both the loss of his friend and his career: “I didn’t know what was going to happen because when Peter died, that was the end of Type O, that’s it. The band’s finished,” he told us.
This forced Kelly to reflect on what his next move would be. “It’s like, ‘What am I going to do’? What am I capable of? What’s next?,’” he remembered pondering at the time. “You have no idea; it’s terrifying. It’s devastating… we lost Peter… and everything that comes along with… losing one of your best friends, you know, like one of your family members and then… at the same time, your career pretty much ended. And it’s like, ‘Well now what’? At that point throughout my adult life… Type O Negative was my adult life. That’s what I knew. Everything that my life involved was around that.”
Kelly went on to play drums in a number of different bands, including Danzig, Silvertomb, A Pale Horse Named Death, Quiet Riot, and Eye Am. “Thirteen years [since Steele’s passing] and … I’m still kicking,” remarked Kelly. “I’m still in the game, which baffles me. ”
Watch Johnny Kelly discuss the loss of Peter Steele in the video above, and read our full interview with the drummer about his band Eye AM and other topics here.
Trouble viewing the video in the player above? Watch on YouTube.