The musician Dan Fawcett, who played guitar in the longtime Canadian hard rock band Helix in the early 2000s, was found murdered on Sunday (Nov. 6) in Gibbons Park in London, Ontario, Canada, according to the CBC. He was 52 years old.
Helix lead singer Brian Vollmer confirmed Fawcett’s death in a Tuesday (Nov. 8) Facebook post. In the same message, he also honored the late Dan McCafferty, the original vocalist of Scottish rockers Nazareth who died at 76 this week.
“Yesterday Dan Fawcett, who played guitar for HELIX around 2000, was found murdered in a North London park,” Vollmer said. “Dan was a sweet guy, always smiling, and a great guitar player as well. No details have been released yet, so there’s little more I can say here. All I can say is that both [my wife] and I are in shock.”
He added, “Another old friend to pass away was Dan McCafferty, lead vocalist of Nazareth. Dan was one of my all time favorite singers and it was an honor to play with Nazareth almost 10 times in our career.”
Fawcett, a London native, was a well-known local musician in the area. He was recently a member of Tim ‘E’ and the Yes Men, an Elvis Presley tribute act led by Elvis impersonator Tim Hendry.
Hendry told the CBC, “[Fawcett] was one of the biggest kind-hearted guys that ever walked the planet, and to take him away from his beautiful daughter, and everybody that loves him, is just such an awful thing.”
On Sunday, London police had closed off a section of Gibbons Park for what they first said was a suspicious death investigation. The next day (Nov. 7), police confirmed the man found dead was Fawcett and said he was likely the victim of a homicide.
Fawcett was a member of Helix from 2002 to 2004. He doesn’t appear on any of their studio albums. Loudwire sends condolences to Fawcett’s family, friends, and bandmates.
A crowdfunding campaign has been started for Fawcett’s daughter, Layla. Donate here.
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