Shaun Glass, a member of the bands Broken Hope, SOiL, Repentance and others over the years, died at 57 years old on Wednesday, July 1st. His passing came roughly a month after suffering a stroke.
Glass’ passing was announced by his wife Michelle, who wrote, “It is with an extremely heavy heart that I share that Shaun passed away this morning after suffering a medical emergency on May 31. Shaun and I met in 2003 and married in 2010. In 2012, we welcomed our son — Shaun’s pride and joy, as anyone who knew him well already knows. Our lives will never be the same. We are devastated, and we ask for privacy and respect as our family begins to navigate this unimaginable loss.”
She added, “Shaun was many things to many people, but to us he was always a husband and a Dad first. Please keep our family in your prayers, thoughts, or however you send positive energy.”
After starting out in the bands Terminal Death and Sindrome in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Glass became the bassist of the Chicago death metal act Broken Hope in 1995, staying with them until 1997 before rejoining the band from 2012 to 2014.
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He had departed Broken Hope in 1997 to form SOiL as their rhythm guitarist, and stayed with the alt-metal act until 2007. During his decade in the band, he achieved success with Mainstream Rock radio hits “Halo,” “Unreal,” and “Redefine.”
Most recently, Glass formed the metal band Repentance in 2018, and was an active member until his passing. The group had just announced a new album Retaliate that was set to be released on July 17th, but was delayed following Glass’ medical emergency.
SOiL issued the following statement in the wake of Glass’ passing: “We’d like to take a moment to say goodbye to our former guitarist Shaun Glass who passed away earlier today. Although we have been estranged and not on good terms since his departure in 2007, he was still an integral part of SOiL in the early years. And for a long time he was a good friend and comrade. We had many laughs and many good times back in the day. We will look back at those times with fond memories and smiles. It’s sad to hear of his passing and we would like to send his family our condolences during this time of grief.”
Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn, a close friend of Glass, wrote, in part, “My world lost a legend today. A lot of people reading this won’t know who Shaun Glass was, but to everyone who did, Shaun was a fucking legend. A star who burned so goddamn bright, it was impossible not to love him.”
Our condolences go out to Shaun Glass’ family, friends, and bandmates during this difficult time. Revisit his music with SOiL and Repentance below.