Wayne Swinney, co-founding guitarist of Platinum-selling rock band Saliva, has passed away at the age of 59 after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Saliva shared the news on their social media earlier today, while the band was on tour.
Swinny helped co-found Saliva, who struck gold (and Platinum) in the early 2000s with their albums Every Six Seconds and Back Into Your System. Emerging as one of the more notable nu-metal adjacent acts, Swinny’s obvious talent can be found all over iconic tracks like “Ladies And Gentlemen”, “Superstar”, and “Click Click Boom”, and Saliva overall have racked up one Platinum album, one Gold album, and even a #1 hit on the Mainstream Rock Charts with “Always”.
Saliva vocalist Bobby Amaru commented on Swinny’s passing, saying: “I’m not even sure what to think or how to feel right now. My heart aches for Wayne’s family, his friends, and anyone who had the joy of being around him. My heart aches for his daughter Nikki. He loved that little girl so much. He was a Guitar Hero onstage with all the Rock ‘N’ Roll swag that most guitar players dream of. Offstage he was a proud father, an Ancient Aliens expert, and an incredible human who had zero enemies! He would go out of his way to make sure you had a good time. I’m grateful that I got to share almost 12 years of my life with Wayne on the stage and most importantly off the stage. He was the older brother I never had. I learned so much from him and we had a fucking blast together! I will cherish it all for the rest of my life! God Bless you Wayne. I know we’ll meet again!!”
