JASON SLATER - Original THIRD EYE BLIND Bassist / QUEENSRŸCHE Producer Dead At 49
December 10, 2020, 3 years ago
TMZ is reporting that Jason Slater, the original bassist for the rock band Third Blind Eye, has passed away at 49 years of age.
Jason's daughter, Alyssa Carlson, told TMZ that Slater died Wednesday from liver failure at a hospital in Maui. Alyssa says her dad kept his condition a secret, telling TMZ she just found out last month when she got a call he had landed in the hospital.
A representative for Third Eye Blind told TMZ that even though they had not spoken to Jason since 1996, "when a spirited member of the music scene is taken too soon it is always a sad time."
Jason was the band's bassist and backup vocalist when it formed in 1993. He recorded their first demo, and left the band after the first year. He went on to be a bassist, songwriter and producer with several other bands, including Snake River Conspiracy, Microdot, Revenge Of The Triads and the rap-rock project Brougham.
Slater was also a producer for Queensrÿche, working on the albums Operation: Mindcrime II (2005), American Soldier (2009), Dedicated To Chaos (2011) and Frequency Unknown (2013).
Former Forbidden guitarist, Craig Locicero, issued the following tribute to Slater: "The world lost a force of human nature today. Jason Slater has left the building. I’m heartbroken. This hits me right in the gut. From the first day I met Jason at the Music Annex when Forbidden was recording Distortion in 1994, we hit it off. Madden and music was our bond. As time went on, Jason did some pretty amazing things in his allotted slot of life. Jason was a successful producer, engineer, record label mogul, songwriter, musician, manager and partying animal all the while. Dude lived the life of 100 men. Muck of it on the edge.
"However, Jason’s greatest strength and trait was his heart. He was full of love. Loved his family. Loved his daughter. Loved his friends. Loved us all like crazy. I loved him. Dearly. We spent a lot of time together over the last few years. Starting with when he pulled me in to recording the guitars on Geoff Tate‘s Queensryche record. Jason challenged me to rewrite everything that was already there on the spot. To put as much myself as I could into it. Because that’s all the time we had. Challenge accepted. That experience made me stronger.
"Jason made me better. As a person and a musician. I owe him so much. He was a Brother to me. I will always carry some of Jason‘s spirit with me. I can’t think of more fitting tribute than that.
"Jason... Fly upwards into the blue out of 2020. This year just got even shittier without you in it.
"I love you, Brother."
