Eko Hot Blog reports that Brian ‘Brizz’ Gillis, one of the original founders of 90s pop group LFO, has died at the age of 47.
The Massachusetts band are best known for hits Girl on TV and Summer Girls – but both were released after Gillis’s departure in 1998.
Tributes have been paid to Gillis by the band’s only surviving original member, Brad Fischetti, who said he was “struggling” with the death.
Fischetti posted on instagram: “Today I honour my former bandmate and friend.
“If it wasn’t for his hard work and dedication in the early days of LFO, the LFO you came to know and (hopefully) love would not exist.”
He added: “The first two chapters of the LFO story lost a main character yesterday.”
The cause of Gillis’ death isn’t currently known.
Gillis had some success with the band in the US and Europe but he left the group in 1998 to start a solo career.
That meant he missed out on one of the band’s biggest moments – opening for Britney Spears on her 1999 US tour.
LFO were formed in 1995, and their singles Girl on TV and Summer Girls both reached the top 20 in the US and the UK.
Gillis is the third person to die from LFO, which stands for Lyte Funkie Ones.
Rich Cronin died aged 36 of leukaemia in 2010, whilst Devin Lima, who replaced Gillis when he left the band, died in 2018 at the age of 41 from adrenal cancer.
Fischetti referenced the death of his bandmates in his Instagram tribute, adding: “I’ve said it before and I will continue to say It, the LFO Story is a tragedy”
“If you know what I’ve been doing, you know I’m trying to bring light into the darkness. Trying find redemption in pain and suffering. Trying to honour the legacy.”
Source: BBC
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