Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1996)
Bradley James Nowell (February 22, 1968 – May 25, 1996) was an American musician and the lead singer and guitarist of the ska punk band Sublime.
Born and raised in Belmont Shore, Long Beach, California, Nowell developed an interest in music at a young age. His father took him on a trip to Jamaica during his childhood years, which exposed him to reggae and dancehall music; he then gained a strong interest in rock music once he learned how to play guitar. Nowell played in various bands until forming Sublime with bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh, whom he had met while attending California State University at Long Beach. In his lifetime, Sublime released the albums 40oz. to Freedom and Robbin' the Hood to critical and commercial success.
Throughout the band's career, Nowell struggled with a worsening addiction to heroin. He eventually became sober after his son Jakob, with girlfriend Troy Dendekker, was born in 1995. In 1996, Nowell relapsed and died of a heroin overdose in a San Francisco hotel while Sublime was on tour. Sublime released their self-titled third album two months after Nowell's death, and has subsequently released several compilation albums featuring the hundreds of songs he recorded throughout his life. Nowell remains an influential figure of the 1990s alternative era in his legacy.
1968Feb, 22
Bradley Nowell
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Events on 1968
- 30Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. - 31Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive. - 29Apr
Counterculture of the 1960s
The controversial musical Hair, a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, opens at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, with some of its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. - 14Oct
U.S. Marine Corps
Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps will send about 24,000 soldiers and Marines back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours of duty in the combat zone there. - 20Oct
Jacqueline Kennedy
Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.