Word has come down through Trans-Siberian Orchestra members Russell Allen (Symphony X) and Chris Caffery (Savatage) that former TSO vocalist James Lewis has passed away. At press time, no details regarding Lewis' death had been made public. He performed with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra from 2004 – 2012.

Following are messages shared by Allen and Caffery in tribute to their bandmate:

Russell Allen: "We lost a member of our TSO family today. The great James Lewis. I never had the pleasure of touring with him but we did meet on a few occasions and his amazing energy, charisma and humor was awesome! I was hoping we’d have a chance to tour together. I heard so many great things about him from my TSO band mates. But sadly he was not able to return. In the early years of my tenure with the band I was just 'filling in' for him on the songs he sang hoping he’d come back. I’ll always think of myself as filling in for James... and will keep giving all I got for as long as I got and try to do what he said to me when I got in the band. 'Congrats! Now don’t fuck it up' haha. He had an epic sense of humor. I loved that about him.. RIP brother.. you are loved by us all and will be missed."

Chris Caffery: Siberian Saturday Night throwback (the photo above) with the voice of 'Christmas Nights In Blue', my dear friend James Lewis. Spent so many nights on the stage with James but also spent so many days and nights off the stage laughing and creating priceless memories. James first toured with us the year Daryl Pediford passed away. Daryl passed away during the weeks of rehearsal for the tour. James really helped me and the others to get through that difficult time with his energy, smile and infectious laugh. 

We were a bit more adventurous on the road back then. The schedule is a lot more brutal now with all the matinees. The stages have also gotten a lot bigger. We have to really be on our game physically and mentally with the new stage shows and all the moving stage pieces and special effects! Plus, yes we are all older, wiser and more careful! But we definitely had some classic times on the road before matinee madness began! 

To give an example - and no, this doesn’t happen at all on the tours now - it was a snowy night in Grand Rapids and the backstage door was dangerously close to the local bars by the arena. 'Old City Bar' has always been a break off the stage for me. This night I saw James and said 'Lewis, wanna go get a shot?' He looked at me and laughed and we ran out in the snow and across the street in our tuxedos and entered an old city bar during 'Old City Bar'! I forget exactly what we got, but I remember telling the bartenders I’d be back after the show to pay my tab! The look on their faces was so priceless. I made it back for the next song and had this priceless memory placed into my mind forever! 

Like I said…definitely not anything that happens on the road these days. But it happened! 

Cheers Lewis!" 

Photo taken from Chris Caffery's official Facebook page