Suicidal Tendencies' Mike Muir pays tribute to Bill Paxton

Suicidal Tendencies with Mike Muir, centre
Suicidal Tendencies with Mike Muir, centre

Suicidal Tendencies mainman Mike Muir has paid tribute to his friend Bill Paxton, who died last weekend.

The actor passed away following complications from surgery at the age of 61.

In a statement of the band’s Facebook page, Muir calls Paxton “an amazing person who literally followed his dream and never gave up.”

Muir says: “I’m extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Bill Paxton – someone I was lucky enough to know and call a real friend. I met him when I was 16 as we both worked delivering the LA Times in the morning. Bill had moved out to Santa Monica to be an actor. I told him I was gonna start a band.

“He was just an incredibly cool, friendly, optimistic guy that never got discouraged when he couldn’t get even an audition for the smallest roles. But every morning at 2am he came into work with a smile.”

Muir continues: “He loved music too, so we’d sometimes go to punk rock shows and then go straight from the Starwood or Whiskey to delivering the morning paper. So many great stories and times I will never forget. I’m so sad for his family and their loss.

“It always hurts when someone passes away, especially when it’s too soon and without warning – and the older you get, the more often it happens. Each time it does, people think of the good things to say and remember them by.

“The special thing about Bill is, I have never heard anyone that knew him, from before his success or during it, that ever had anything but great things to say about him. Truly an amazing person, who literally followed his dream, and never gave up.”

Muir posted a picture of the actor, who appeared in a string of successful films, including The Terminator, Weird Science, Aliens, Predator 2, True Lies, Apollo 13 and Titanic, wearing a Suicidal Tendencies t-shirt.

Muir adds: “Someone just sent me this photo. That’s the way I remember Bill, not cause he’s wearing and SxTx shirt, but that smile. And of course he was an amazing actor and director – but more importantly he was as good a person as they come. Rest in Peace. You will be missed but never forgotten. So proud of you and thankful that I knew you.”

Suicidal Tendencies released their 12th album World Gone Mad in 2016, which featured former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.