Original QUIET RIOT Bassist Explains How KEVIN DUBROW's
Body Was Discovered
Bassist Kelly Garni, who was one of the founding members of QUIET
RIOT, has released the following statement regarding the passing of
the group's lead singer, Kevin DuBrow:
"I want to thank everyone who refrained from jumping to conclusions
and starting rumors. This has been a very traumatic tragedy to me
and because of the fireworks usually associated with Kevin, I was
expecting an avalanche of negativity that both me and Frankie
[Banali, QUIET RIOT drummer] usually have to deal with. And I'm
happy to say that for the most part, everyone did nothing but
express good feelings. Unfortunately what negativity that did occur
was internal and while inconvenient, I was able to handle.
"On Sunday [November 25], while I was working I got a phone call
from Kevin's home security company. It was at about 3:15 in the
afternoon. I am the only one who gets a call whenever his alarm
goes off and usually I go to his house and let the guards in to
check things out. However, Kevin had had his front doors replaced a
few weeks ago and I did not yet have a key, so I told them to send
the guards and if there was a problem I would go there and take
care of it. They also told me that Kevin's voice mail was full.
That was the first sign of trouble to me.
"I got on the phone to Frankie in L.A. and asked if Kevin was with
him. He said no and that he hadn't talked to Kevin in about 10
days. He said he thought Kevin was with one of his girlfriends.
From there, I started to track her down. I have never met her and
only after Frankie gave me her name was I able to find her, which
was relativity easy. By now about 10 minutes had passed. She said
that Kevin had missed Thanksgiving with her (one of two girls he
was supposed to have thanksgiving with. Well, he IS Kevin). She
said she had gone to his house and left him many messages without
response and that she had a very bad feeling about this. Right
then, my other phone rang. I have three phones in my house and
little did I know soon all three would be ringing nonstop. I put
the phone down on the table with girlfriend #2 still on the line
and it was Frankie on the phone. He told me what had happened. I
lost all composure at that point and told FB I would call him
back.
"Now to the other phone where I had the unpleasant task of telling
#2 the news. Needless to say she freaked. GF#1 was Lark Williams
who was in San Fran at the time. She was worried about Kevin as
well and she had called a paramedic friend of hers to go check on
Kevin. The guy happened to be very close to his house. With Lark on
the phone, the guy went to Kevin's and was looking into windows and
told Lark he could see his keys on the counter. Lark told him to
break in immediately. It was a very ballsy and good thing she did.
The guy broke in (hence the call from the alarm co.) and found Kev.
This all happened in about 20 minutes time. From there, police,
fire, everybody was called. He was found in bed. I talked with a
detective who was there and they hadn't even removed Kevin yet. He
said, 'We have found no signs of foul play and are ruling this an
accidental death.'
"Last I heard from Kevin's brother, there was going to be a service
this Sunday in Corona del Mar, Caalifornia. Kevin will be buried
next to his father. But then I was told that the coroner was still
not done so that was kind of up in the air. I have not heard from
them since.
"Peter Margolis [director of the upcoming Randy Rhoads documentary
film] was one of the first people I called. I had had to tell the
news to Kevin's brother as well and I really didn't want to go
through that again with others who are important in our lives. He
was very kind was immediately saddened and said right off he
wouldn't wish this on anybody. I read his statement and can say
that he did in fact want to work out the differences between Kevin
and himself.
"From here, I am not going to point out all the other things to you
that people say when an icon dies.
"Kevin was what he was and he lived his life as such.
"To me, Kevin was my brother for 35 years. And like brothers, we
had our differences. But many many times over dinner, we discussed
how great it was to be able to sit across from each and laugh about
all the terrible things we said and did to each other. He was
always there for me, and I was always there for him.
"The last time I saw him was on our mutually shared birthday,
October 29, He gave me a big hug and a really great present. The
best present, though, was the hug.
"I will miss him terribly. I pray that those who had issues with
him don't take this opportunity to celebrate this.
"If you knew Kevin well enough to have a beef with him, then you
knew him well enough to know he had a very good side to him as
well.
"Thank you all for all your kindness. Please remember him for the
one thing he wanted to be since he was born: A ROCK STAR."
