Former Mastodon singer-guitarist Brent Hinds has died in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta. He was 51 years old.
According to an Atlanta police report, a male riding a Harley Davidson was killed in a collision after a driver of a BMW SUV failed to yield while making a turn at an intersection. The Fulton County medical examiner’s office has since confirmed Hinds as the driver of the motorcycle.
Born in Alabama, Hinds left his hometown for Atlanta to pursue a career in music. Shortly after, Hinds would meet his eventual Mastodon bandmate Troy Sanders, joining the latter’s then-band Four Hour Fogger.
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Following the dissolution of that group, Hinds and Sanders would meet drummer-singer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher at a basement High on Fire show, with the quartet eventually forming Mastodon with singer Eric Saner in early 2000.
Saner stuck through 2001 before exiting the group, which put a new spotlight on Hinds’ gruff and forceful vocals, as well as his virtuosic guitar playing — both defining aspects of Mastodon’s sound. The band’s first four albums, including the 2004 opus Leviathan, are considered classics of the sludge metal genre, with the band gradually implementing more progressive-rock influences by 2009’s Crack the Skye.
Hinds was instrumental to the band’s commercial ascent, singing and sharing songwriting duties on all eight of Mastodon’s studio albums through 2021’s Hushed and Grim.
Things appeared to go sour between Hinds and his bandmates in more recent times. In March of this year, the band announced that it was parting ways with Hinds, wishing him “nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors.” Meanwhile, Hinds took a spiteful tone on social media, calling his bandmates “horrible humans” in comments on Instagram. The remaining members of Mastodon did not formally respond to Hinds’ comments prior to his passing.
In the months following his exit from Mastodon, Hinds remained musically active with his other various projects, playing shows around Atlanta. Most recently, he was on tour in Europe this summer with blues rocker Marcus King.
Rumors of Hinds’ death began circulating on Reddit after Tool guitarist Adam Jones posted an image of Hinds on an Instagram story with somber ambient music early Thursday (August 21st). The apparent tribute post was followed by rumors that Hinds was involved in a fatal motorcycle crash in Atlanta.
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