R.I.P. Brian “Brizz” Gillis, founding member of boy band LFO
LFO's Brad Fischetti reported the passing of former bandmate Brian "Brizz" Gillis, who died at age 47
Aux News LFO
Brian “Brizz” Gillis, founding member of ’90s boy band LFO, has died at age 47. Former bandmate Brad Fischetti, the last living member of the group, broke the news to Instagram on Thursday; sources close to Gillis later confirmed his death to Variety.
“Every story is made up of chapters. Some develop naturally. Some you have to cut up in your mind. The first two chapters of the LFO story lost a main character yesterday. Brian ‘Brizz’ Gillis passed away. I don’t have details and it wouldn’t be my place to share them if I did,” Fischetti writes on social media. “I am really struggling to process this tragic loss. I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it; the LFO Story is a tragedy. If you know what I’ve been doing, you know I’m trying to bring light into the darkness. Trying find redemption in pain and suffering. Trying to honor the legacy.”
LFO, known for their hits “Summer Girl” and “Girl on TV,” was started by Fischetti and Rich Cronin in Massachusetts in 1995. They were introduced to Gillis by notorious boy band mogul Lou Pearlman, who signed them to his Transcontinental Records label as a trio, per Rolling Stone. Gillis left the band in 1999 and was replaced by Devin Lima, after which the band would go on to achieve its biggest successes. However, Fischetti shared in his post that “If it wasn’t for [Gillis’] hard work and dedication in the early days of LFO, the first two chapters, the LFO you came to know and (hopefully) love would not exist.”
Cronin died of a stroke while battling leukemia in 2010, and Lima passed away from cancer in 2017, according to Rolling Stone. “I know that soon or maybe already, Brizz will be greeted by Rich and Devin,” Fischetti wrote, “And I hope that together, they will make some sweet sounds. I would really like that.”
23 Comments
Just horrible. What former toxic waste storage facility in Orlando did Lou Pearlman rent on the cheap for these guys’ rehearsal space?
Seriously…how are you only in your forties and the last living member of the band!? This poor guy deserves a long, healthy and happy life.
You actually see that with some early eighties punk bands. I think most of the original members of Fang and Battalion of Saints didn’t make it out of their twenties. But then you listen to a couple of their songs or look at a few band photos and kind of understand why. Sometimes despair ain’t a pose.
Sure, I can understand how the G.G. Allins of the world can burn out fast and furious, but we’re talking about a pop group who rhyme ‘News Kids on the Block had a bunch of hits/Chinese food makes me sick’.
Actually, when you think about the sort of life he lived, GG hung in there for a good long time. For lack of better candidates, he’s still Nashua, New Hampshire’s finest.
That rhyme was pretty dope.
You’re probably just jealous or mad because they stole your honey like they stole your bike.
Thank you for mentioning Batallion Of Saints. As an enterprising young punk in the mid-‘90s, to discover BOS and find out most of their original lineup died so young was shattering. One cool thing of note though, David Astor’s son was a founding member of The Locust and Cattle Decapitation. The San Diego legacy continued.
Whoa, I didn’t know that! “Plague Soundscapes” still astounds.
I’m pretty sure all of Orlando was built on a toxic waste dump. You know Micky and Minnie at Disney world? Those aren’t costumes!
LFO, known for their hits “Summer Girl”, “Girl on TV”, “Summer Of TV”, “TV Girl”, “Girls on TV in the Summer”, “Summer of White Girl”, “Girl Who Doesn’t Have A TV Because I Guess Her Family Are Quakers or Something”, “Girl Who Shows Boob Because It’s Cable TV”, “(Hot Girl) Summer In The City”, “Girl With ‘Summer Teeth’”, “Summer Girl On TV” and “Helen Shapiro”, was started in Massachusetts in 1995.
Wait, are they the guys who did “Summer Babe”? I put that song on the mixtape I made my high school girlfriend!
Nah, that was Backseat Sink, who had “Summer Babe Who Wears Amber Heard & Fitch”.
No, they did the yacht rock classic, Summer Breeze.No wait, that was Seals and Croft.What the hell is LFO?
Aren’t they the group that like girls that shopped at American Eagle? I also heard the Thai food gives them the tummy grumbles. Please confirm.
That’s the one!
No need for the sarcasm- their hit “Every Other Time” is a pretty damn good Top 10 hit. And I despise commercial radio and all its trappings.
It’s a curse. Also deceased — and this is the one really hurts — Mark Bell.
The 90’s after Kurt died were something else…
Ironically, when I first heard of LFO, years after their fame, I assumed the name stoof for Life is Fucking Over. Whoops, sorry chaps.
Was there actually a popular band called LFO?
Who dis homo bitch?
Fag alert