UPDATE 2: A GoFundMe page has been started to raise money to cover Chuck Mosley's funeral expenses — "a small private memorial for family and friends to mourn their loss" — and to throw what campaign organizers describe as "a large scale, loud, bright, beautiful concert to celebrate the music he gifted us with over the years." You can contribute here.
UPDATE 1: Faith No More have issued a statement regarding Mosley's death. "It's with a heavy, heavy heart we acknowledge the passing of our friend and bandmate, Chuck Mosley," it reads. "He was a reckless and caterwauling force of energy who delivered with conviction and helped set us on a track of uniqueness and originality that would not have developed the way it had had he not been a part.
"How fortunate we are to have been able to perform with him last year in a reunion style when we re-released our very first record. His enthusiasm, his sense of humor, his style and his bravado will be missed by so many. We were a family, an odd and dysfunctional family, and we'll be forever grateful for the time we shared with Chuck," it concludes.
Charles Henry "Chuck" Mosley III, best known as former lead vocalist of Faith No More, died yesterday, November 9th. He was 57. While his official cause of death has yet to be revealed, Mosley's family, who announced the news, attribute his passing to "the disease of addiction." "We're sharing the manner in which he passed, in the hopes that it might serve as a warning or wake up call or beacon to anyone else struggling to fight for sobriety," they said in a statement.
Born in 1959, Mosley grew up in Los Angeles. In the late Seventies, he met Billy Gould, Faith No More's eventual bassist; he played in several bands (including Gould's first band, the Animated) before enlisting with Faith No More in 1985. Mosley fronted the band for its first two albums, 1986's We Care a Lot and 1987's Introduce Yourself. Due to personal and creative differences, Mosley split with the band in 1988, following Faith No More's European tour behind the latter release, replaced by current frontman Mike Patton. Mosley sued his former bandmates shortly thereafter, claiming they'd violated his partnership deal with the group; the case was ultimately settled out of court.
Post–Faith No More, Mosley did a two-year stint as the lead vocalist for seminal D.C. punks Bad Brains, eventually forming several bands of his own, most notably the funk-metal outfit Cement, who released two albums in the early Nineties. In 2009, he released his first and only solo album, Will Rap Over Hard Rock for Food, featuring appearances by members of Faith No More, Korn and others.
Mosley is survived by his long-term partner Pip Logan, two daughters, Erica and Sophie, and his grandson, Wolfgang Logan Mosley. The family will be accepting donations for funeral expenses; details are currently TBA.
