The death of the former Weezer bass guitarist Mikey Welsh, whose body has been discovered in a Chicago hotel room following a suspected drug overdose, was predicted by Welsh himself. In a Twitter posting two weeks ago, he wrote: "Dreamt i died in chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep). need to write my will today." In a second message, he added: "Correction – the weekend after next." He was 40 years old.
Welsh joined the Los Angeles-based band Weezer in 1998 in the wake of the departure of their bassist Matt Sharp, though, due to various internal squabbles, the group did not resume active duty until 2000, when they reconvened to rehearse for a tour and write a batch of new songs. They had originally become popular with a mix of post-grunge metal, catchy pop hooks and geeky humour, as demonstrated in hits such as Undone (the Sweater Song) or Say It Ain't So.
They returned to the recording studio and made their third album, Weezer (2001), confusingly bearing the same title as their 1994 debut. The new disc became known as the Green Album, the first one having been unofficially dubbed the Blue Album, and spawned a couple of radio and MTV hits with Hash Pipe and Island in the Sun. It was the only Weezer album Welsh actually appeared on, though he can also be heard on the group's limited edition Christmas EP (reissued as Winter Weezerland in 2005).
Weezer went back on tour after the new album's release, but in August 2001 Welsh was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. It later emerged that he had suffered a serious nervous breakdown caused by drug use and the stresses of touring, and had attempted to take his own life.
In an interview with the website Rock Salt Plum, Welsh confessed that "basically, a lifetime of doing drugs and being undiagnosed as having ... post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder finally caught up with me when I was 30 years old. At the beginning of a three-month European tour with Weezer, I started slowly falling apart."
Weezer recruited Scott Shiner as Welsh's replacement. Welsh subsequently played a few dates with the Boston band the Kickovers, but then took a complete break from music, moved to Burlington, Vermont, and began a new career as a full-time visual artist. He mounted numerous exhibitions and enjoyed considerable critical acclaim for his work.
Welsh, who was born in Syracuse, New York, took his first creative steps as an artist when he was a teenager. He worked at first with watercolours and collage, and pursued his artistic bent until he decided to switch to music when he was 19. He played with a number of bands in the Boston area, including Heretix, Jocobono and Slower, and toured with the singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield.
His connection with Weezer came about when he joined the Rivers Cuomo Band in 1997, this being a solo project by Weezer's frontman Rivers Cuomo. The band went through several different lineups as Cuomo experimented with new material, but Welsh remained a constant presence on bass. When Cuomo rejoined his Weezer cohorts, Pat Wilson and Brian Bell, to begin work on a new album, they agreed that Welsh should be recruited.
Welsh's post-Weezer career saw his life transformed in all respects. In 2003, he married Danielle, whom he had known for several years on the music circuit before he joined Weezer. "She played bass in this band and I always thought she was really beautiful," Welsh said. He became stepfather to her son Rye, and four years ago the couple had a son, Jack.
Welsh's art career seemed set on an upward trajectory. As well as exhibiting and selling individual works, he had won design commissions from Burton Farm snowboards and Gordini goggles, and he created an album cover for the band Twin Berlin.
At the time of his death, Welsh had been planning to attend Weezer's gig at the Riot Fest in Chicago. He is survived by Danielle, Rye and Jack.
Michael Edward Welsh, musician and artist, born 20 April 1971; died 8 October 2011