Coburn Pharr, former vocalist of long-running Canadian metal heroes Annihilator, has died. News of the artist's passing was shared by former bandmate and founding Annihilator guitarist-vocalist Jeff Waters, though a cause of death was not revealed. He was 62.
"Coburn was the singer on our best and biggest record," Waters shared in tribute, pointing to the band's 1990 sophomore album Never, Neverland. "He had the most unique voice of all our singers, along with Randy Rampage (he also passed, in 2018)."
Waters shared how he "had very little contact with Coburn over the years," though reflected on how his former bandmate was able to reunite with Annihilator for an early 2015 performance as part of 70,000 Tons of Metal, the annual heavy music festival which takes place aboard a cruise ship. You can find fan-shot footage of that performance below.
"In 2018, I had Coburn over to our house in the UK for a really amazing visit," Waters continued. "He had lost his Mom and sister and was eager to hang out and talk music, life and reconnect. Since 2018, we had been discussing him coming back for some festival shows and even a tour... However, he was having struggles with some personal things, demons, etc... and it was clear that he would not be able to do any of it.
"I was really glad to have had that time in 2018 with him. He was going through a terrible time and the thought of doing music again brought back some real hope and life in his eyes and being. Thoughts to his wife and family. Thank you for the music and memories, Coburn."