Peter Steele, the iconic frontman of Type O Negative, was known for his deep voice, towering presence, and a dark sense of humor that often blurred the lines between reality and fiction.
His death on April 14, 2010, shocked fans and the metal community, even though he had flirted with death in various ways throughout his life, including a well-known 2005 hoax where he faked his own demise on the band’s website.
Steele’s passing, initially reported as due to an aortic aneurysm, was later clarified to have been caused by sepsis resulting from diverticulitis.
His death marked the end of an era for Type O Negative, a band that had left an indelible mark on gothic metal with its bleak, yet often ironic, take on life and death.
Despite his struggles and the persona he projected, Peter Steele’s untimely demise at the age of 48 was a heartbreaking moment for fans who had come to see him as a larger-than-life figure who might just keep cheating death indefinitely.
Peter Steele’s death was all the more tragic because it came at a time when he seemed to be turning his life around.
After years of battling addiction and health issues, Steele had finally achieved sobriety and was optimistic about the future.
He was looking forward to a fresh start, having recently expressed excitement about relocating to a new place near Staten Island and beginning work on a new Type O Negative album, which would have followed their 2007 release, Dead Again.
However, this period of hope was abruptly cut short. Just days before his death, Steele’s bandmates in Type O Negative, guitarist Kenny Hickey and drummer Johnny Kelly, were preparing to rehearse with their doom metal side project, Seventh Void, when Kelly received the devastating news of Steele’s passing.
This moment marked the end of Type O Negative, a band that had become synonymous with Steele’s darkly humorous yet deeply melancholic worldview.
His death left a void not only in the band but also in the hearts of fans who had been inspired by his music and his larger-than-life persona.
“I got a phone call from a number that I didn’t recognize, so I let it go to voicemail,” he says.
“It was Peter’s sister. I called her up and said, ‘What’s up?’ and she was like, ‘We lost Peter.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ and she said, ‘He’s gone.’ At the time, they didn’t know the cause of death.”
After Johnny Kelly received the devastating news of Peter Steele’s death, he continued his drive to rehearsal, where he had to break the tragic news to fellow Type O Negative guitarist Kenny Hickey.
This moment was undoubtedly heartbreaking, as the two bandmates, who had shared countless experiences and built a musical legacy together, had to come to terms with the loss of their friend and frontman.
Steele’s death not only marked the end of Type O Negative but also brought a deep personal loss to those closest to him.
“He started yelling at me: ‘How come you didn’t call me?!?’ recalls Kelly.
“I was like, ‘I was going to see you in five minutes!’ I didn’t want to tell him over the phone. We were both in complete disbelief. It was like the end of an era, man. The end of an era.”
Peter Steele, despite being clean and sober at the time of his death, had struggled with years of alcohol and drug abuse, particularly cocaine, even while being treated for atrial fibrillation, a heart condition involving an irregular heartbeat.
According to Type O Negative’s keyboardist Josh Silver, although Steele had been diagnosed with the condition long ago, it could have been managed with proper care, as many people live with it into old age.
Silver reflected on the uncertainty surrounding Steele’s death, suggesting that his years of substance abuse might have contributed to it, though the exact cause remains unclear.
Hickey adds,
“He always said that he felt the flutter in his heart, even when he was a kid, so he might have been born with it for all we know.
He’s had four or five males in his family that have died from heart disease before 50, so it could have been congenital. Who knows? There is a price you pay for being so big, too.”
