Scott Putesky — a.k.a. Daisy Berkowitz — has died after a long battle with colon cancer, Billboard reports. He was 49.
Putesky and Brian Warner (who would later take the name Marilyn Manson) met in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1989. Together, the two conceived a band that would embody and critique America's grim fascination with fame, sex and death: Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids.
Over the next five years Putesky — whose stage name was a created by combining the names of serial killer David Berkowitz and Daisy Dukes from the television show Dukes of Hazzard — helped develop Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids' gothic, industrial-metal sound, heard on demos like The Raw Bones Psalms (1989), Lunchbox (1991), The Manson Family Album (1993) and more.
Putesky went on to co-write and play lead guitar on early Marilyn Manson records including the 1994 debut Portrait of an American Family and 1995's Smells Like Children, the latter of which features Putesky's guitar work on Manson's break-out cover version of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)."
Putesky left the band in the middle of the recording of 1996's Antichrist Superstar, after reportedly feeling creatively alienated from the band. He is, however, credited on six songs on the album, including "Tourniquet" and "Man That You Fear."
After leaving Manson, Putesky released solo material as Three Ton Gate, performed and recorded with Jack Off Jill, collaborated with singer Jessicka Addams in the Linda Blairs and played with electro-punk band Kill Miss Pretty.
In September 2013, Putesky was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer.
On social media, musicians remembered Putesky. "Very sad we lost Daisy Berkowitz Today," Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 posted. "Scott and I became pretty close the last couple of years we would talk, text and he came to a few of my shows a great musician and a great guy RIP." "My heart is broken. RIP," wrote his Jack Off Jill and Linda Blairs bandmate Jessicka Addams on Instagram.
For his part, Manson paid tribute to Berkowitz on social media: "Scott Putesky and I made great music together. We had our differences over the years, but I will always remember the good times more. Everyone should listen to 'Man That You Fear' in his honor. That was our favorite."
