Marilyn Manson’s former bandmate Gidget Gein has been found dead, according to reports. The bass player, whose real name was Brad Stewart, played in Manson’s band from 1989 until 1993, when he was fired and replaced by Twiggy Ramirez. He went on to make music with the band Gidget Gein and the Dali Gaggers, and later as Gollywood. Stewart was found dead at his home in Burbank, Los Angeles on Thursday (October 9) after a suspected drug overdose. He was 39. However, Los Angeles County Coroners Office have said they will not issue any further information until the musician’s family have been informed of the situation.

When the band Marilyn Manson was created in 1989, the band was called Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids. Each band member was given a hybrid name of a celebrity coupled with a serial killer — Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson, for example. Gidget Gein was named after the fictional 60’s TV character Gidget (played by Sally Field) and notorious American serial killer Ed Gein. I understand that Gidget Gein was kicked out of the band in 1993 after band members grew tired of his drug problems. A heroin overdose around Xmas ‘93 was the last straw … he was kicked out of the band and was replaced by Jeordie White aka Twiggy Ramirez (named after the model Twiggy and serial killer Richard Ramirez). As a longtime MM fan, I am very sorry to learn that drugs turned out to be his final downfall. I never got to see MM with Gidget as part of the band but I am pretty familiar with his work with the band’s early recordings. This news is just … sad.

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