In Memoriam: Bradley Nowell

It’s been 14 years today since the passing of the great Bradley Nowell, yet his timeless sound and style can still be heard today. The former Sublime front man was found dead in his hotel room in San Francisco on May 25th, 1996, just weeks before the release of their debut major label album and days after his wedding.

In honor of one of the most inspirational and talented individuals to ever come from the Southern California music scene, we have assembled some of the best Sublime covers around.

Click more to read about Brad’s life and see videos of Sublime covers.

Bradley Nowell was born February 22, 1968 in Long Beach. After a trip to Jamaica in his early childhood, Nowell fell in love with reggae and came back to America with a new passion to learn how to play guitar. In his freshman year of high school, Bradley joined the band Second Sight, but was kicked out after about a week because he didn’t know how to play yet. Months after that departure, Bud Gaugh actually joined Second Sight as their drummer.

After Nowell was kicked out of Second Sight, he joined the band Hogan’s Heroes, which was formed by his friend Eric Wilson. The band switched its name to Sloppy Seconds and put out a number of albums in the mid-80′s. Nowell had taken some singing and guitar classes to help further improve his skills, and in 1988, Bradley met Bud Gaugh, who was a long-time friend of Wilson. Gaugh, Wilson and Nowell would eventually form the band Sublime. Nowell had been attending UC Santa Cruz since 1986, and after three years he finally dropped out and returned to Long Beach to pursue his passion for music.

Sublime grew in popularity around Cal State Long Beach, as well as the rest of Southern California, playing house parties and bar gigs along the way. In 1989, Nowell and Michael Happoldt started Skunk Records, which would put out the early Sublime recordings. In 1991, Sublime put out their first studio recording (via cassette) called Jah Won’t Pay The Bills.

In 1992, their first full-length album 40 Oz. To Freedom was released, and about 60,000 initial copies were sold out of the back of Nowell’s car. Tazy Phillipz (of Ska Parade) brought “Date Rape” to the attention of KROQ, and it soon entered the playlist. MCA Records soon picked up distribution rights for 40 Oz. To Freedom and Sublime’s fan-base grew nationwide with the album landing in the Billboard charts.

In 1994, Robbin’ The Hood was released, but the band had yet to sign with a major label. These frustrations led Nowell to start experimenting with heroin, hoping that the effects of the drug would help his creativity and spawn something greater for the band. Once the attention from major labels began pouring in, the drug use never ceased and continued to destroy the band and Nowell.

The band showed up to their meeting with MCA Records drunk and with their unofficial mascot, Bradley’s dalmatian Lou (aka Lou Dog), but still left with a record deal. Bradley then met Troy Dendekker while touring in 1994 and fell in love. The two had a son, Jakob James Nowell, who was born in June 1995. After the birth of Jakob, Bradley checked into a rehab center and after 6 months had cleaned himself up. Everything was going great until he began relapsing.

In February 1996, the band returned to the studio to record most of the material for their self-titled major label debut, but Bradley was sent home early because his drug use had become unmanageable. Nowell came back to California and married Dendekker on May 18, 1996. Two days later, Sublime went on a small tour which brought the group to the San Francisco area. They played a show May 24th in Petaluma, and after the show Bradley called Troy and told her that it had gone well and how happy he was. This was the final time the two would speak.

The next morning, as the band prepared to continue on their tour, they knocked on Bradley’s hotel room door. When nobody answered, Gaugh went in and discovered Bradley lifeless and called for paramedics. Nowell was pronounced dead at the scene, his life ending from an apparent heroin overdose. His body was cremated and his ashes were spread over his favorite surf spot in Surfside, California.

The music world was in shock. A few weeks after his death, longtime friends No Doubt headlined a “cautionary” benefit concert to help spread the awareness of the drug problem in the industry, as well as celebrate Bradley’s life and establish a college fund for his son Jakob. Gaugh and Wilson decided to not continue on as Sublime any longer (which would eventually change in 2009), even though their major label debut came out July 30, 1996 and sold millions of records.

After his death, a few more Sublime albums were released (mainly b-sides and unreleased material) which included Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends, an album which is basically a collection of Bradley playing acoustic Sublime material solo between 1991-1996.

The death of Nowell has undoubtedly had a huge impact on the lives of several musicians and fans alike. Although it was 14 years ago that he passed, the music he helped create was timeless and still has an effect on aspiring musicians who can hopefully use Nowell’s experiences as a deterrent from hard drugs. It truly disappoints me that drug abuse is the reason I was never able to witness one of my favorite bands at their best. However, we must remember and honor someone who had such a vital impact on the 90′s ska/punk/reggae scene and celebrate the positive light he shed on this world, as opposed to dwelling on his mistakes.

Here are some videos of classic Sublime covers:

No Doubt “DJ’s”

Jack Johnson “Badfish”

Fishbone “Date Rape”

Pennywise “Same In The End” (audio only)

Abstract Rude “Waiting For My Ruca”

R.I.P. Bradley Nowell