Lynn Strait
Lynn Strait | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Lynn Strait |
| Born | August 7, 1968 Manhasset, New York, U.S. |
| Died | December 11, 1998 (aged 30) Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1988–1998 |
James Lynn Strait (August 7, 1968 – December 11, 1998) was the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Snot. He died in a car accident on December 11, 1998 at the age of 30.
Biography
Strait was born in New York City, but moved to Santa Barbara as a teen and immediately embraced the SoCal punk scene. Prior to his work with Snot, Strait had played bass in Goleta thrash metal band Lethal Dose, but had never sung in a band. "I always wanted to because it seemed like a lot of fun. But I wasn't into what most bands were playing". [citation needed] Starting from scratch was an advantage for Strait: "There's nobody to emulate. I won't say what I do is groundbreaking, but some of it is original; there are weird patterns in my vocals, because I got to make up my style as I went along".[citation needed]
Strait also served as the band's lyricist and appeared as a guest on Tura Satana's song 'Down', a duet with friend Tairrie B on Manhole/Tura Satana's first album. Landing a record contract was a dream come true for some of his mates, but Strait was underwhelmed by the development. His response: "Yeah, now I can order cheese on my Whopper". [citation needed] While his bandmates were signing the contracts, Strait was completing a monthlong sentence in County Jail, where he had spent a year in the early 1990s.
Death and legacy
According to California Highway Patrol reports, Lynn Strait was traveling from Santa Barbara, California to Los Angeles and became involved in a six-car crash. The crash occurred on a highway off-ramp. Only one other driver, David Redderson, was injured in the crash and he was released from Saint Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara. Also killed in the accident was Strait's dog, Dobbs, who was on the cover of the band's 1997 debut album, Get Some and served as the group's mascot.
The band Sevendust paid tribute to Strait with the song "Angel's Son". A tribute album entitled Strait Up was released on November 7, 2000 on Virgin records, compiled with the help of members of Limp Bizkit, Korn, Slipknot, Sevendust, Hed PE, Coal Chamber, Sugar Ray, System of a Down, Soulfly, Incubus, Ozzy Osbourne and others. The album contains tributes to Lynn Strait with backing from the remaining band. Also on the record was a remixed version of Lynn Strait's last recording with the band Snot, a song entitled "Absent," the original version of which was included on the Strangeland soundtrack.
On August 7, 1999, fans were encouraged to buy copies of Snot's debut CD Get Some in an attempt to cause a jump in the charts on what would have been Lynn's 31st birthday. The band My Ruin fronted by Tairrie B paid tribute to him with a song called "Rockstar". The Band NOFX mentions both Lynn and Dobbs in their song 'Doornails' in which they pay tribute to deceased punk band members. British band Reuben paid tribute to him and Kurt Cobain in their song "Push", from the "Deadly Lethal Ninja Assassin" single.