Brad Delp

Bradley Edward Delp was an American singer, songwriter, and musician, best-known as the lead singer of the rock band, Boston.  Born on June 12th, 1951, in Peabody, Massachusetts, U.S.A., to French-Canadian immigrants, he was raised in Danvers, Massachusetts.  Boston's eponymously-titled debut album was released in 1976, selling 20 million copies, and spawning the rock standard, More Than A Feeling.  A multi-instrumentalist - playing the guitar, keyboards, and harmonica - Delp also formed his own band, RTZ, in 1991.  From the mid-1990s until 2007, whilst he continued to perform and record with Boston, Delp also played in a Beatles tribute band called Beatlejuice, as well as writing songs for other artists.  Delp was married and divorced twice, and had two children with his second wife, Micki Delp.  He was a vegetarian for over 30 years, and contributed to a number of charitable causes.  Sometime between 11 p.m. on March 8th and 1 p.m. on March 9th, 2007, Delp commited suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, in Atkinson, New Hampshire, U.S.A.  He had connected a tube to his car exhaust, and lit two charcoal grills, causing his bedroom to fill with smoke.  He left a suicide note, proclaiming that he was, "...a lonely soul."  The reason for Delp's suicide has been the subject of contradictory news reports and various lawsuits.  Interviews conducted by the Boston Herald  alleged that lingering hard feelings from Boston's disbandment in the 1980s, and personal tensions between Delp and bandleader Tom Scholz, drove the singer to commit suicide.  Scholz denied these claims, but lost the defamation suits he filed in response.  Court documents from the trials detail Scholz stating that Delp was plagued by personal problems.  Other who knew Delp, stated that he wanted to quit the band, but felt caught in an ugly conflict between Scholz and former bandmembers.  Also, for two-and-a-half years before his death, Delp was housemates with Meg Sullivan, his fiancee Pamela's sister.  On February 8th, 2007, Meg found a hidden camera in her room.  On confronting Delp, he admitted to planting the camera, before sending her a series of e-mails pleading for forgiveness.  Delp pledged to admit his wrongdoings to his fiancee, but instead purchased the grills and tubing and committed suicide.  Pamela found his body in the bathroom on March 9th, surrounded by several notes, one of which read: "I have had bouts of depression and thoughts of suicide since I was a teenager...[Pamela] was my 'ray of sunshine', but sometimes even a ray of sunshine is no substitute for a good psychiatrist".  Brad Delp was 55 years old.