Bradley Nowell died a tragic and sudden death.It occured 2 months before their hit single came out. He was stuck on drugs, they overtook his life and made it impossible to quit. He overdosed on heroin the night of May 25,1996. It was a celebration nothing could happen he would be okay...He left his son Jakob, who will hopefully carry on what Brad would have done, and his wife Troy. Brad will always be with us Heart, Mind, & Soul.

"Brad quickly picked up the guitar" , Mr. Nowell said quietly. Brad Nowell learned to play the guitar when on a sailing trip in the Virgin Islands. On the island of Saint Martin locals taught Brad the "Get Up Stand Up", a song by Bob Marley. He was interested in music because it was the only thing he picked up on quickly, of course he never knew how to quit either. Through the years he learned more and more until music is what he wanted to do for a career. He didn't know what a wild ride he was in for.

During college at California State University he did very well and it was obvious he was determined to become a musician. He met his future bassist, Eric Wilson, and drummer, Bud Gaugh. In college they formed a band and quickly became popular with the parties. Then the band started becoming more and more popular with the clubs and bars, it was obvious they were going to go all the way. After a little while Brad felt the band needed him more so he dropped out of college two months before graduating.

Sublime had become known all over Southern California for their ability to meld reggae, hip-hop, rock, funk, & punk together to make an unmistakable sound like no other. Southern California wasn't enough it was time to start publicizing. In 1992, realizing the hysteria they were creating, Brad and co-conspirator/producer Miguel pawned the band's equipment and founded their own label, Skunk Records, to release and self-distribute their now cult classic, 40 oz to Freedom. “Basically, we created Skunk Records so that I could have a business card,” explains Miguel, “and so we could say `Skunk Recording artists sublime'.” 40 oz to Freedom, which was originally recorded for under $1,000, has gone on to sell thousands of copies with the first 30,000 being sold directly from the trunks of the band members' cars. 40 oz to Freedom was not only on the Billboard Alternative New Artist Albums Chart for over 50 weeks, spending the last 30 weeks in the top 20, but also broke into Billboard's Heatseeker (Top 50 New Artists Chart) while spending 5 weeks as the Billboard Pacific region #1 new artist top seller. The album became an indie icon exemplifying the synthesis of life and art.

Robbin' the Hood, the experimental masterpiece released in 1994, also on Skunk, was recorded on a shoe string budget, partially on 4-tracks, in various living rooms and abandoned houses around LBC as well as with some charitable free time from Mr. Brett (Epitaph) at the legendary West Beach Studios (whose past occupants include The Minutemen, Bad Religion, and The Descendants). This subversive album, woven together with punk, dub and crazy spoken word, was never meant to be a follow-up to the conceptually classic 40 oz; it served as a precursor to the untapped possibilities of sublime. Robbin's eclectic bouillabaisse of sonic manipulation has now gained thousands of listeners.

Sublime's D.I.Y. ethic and intensity has garnered them shows with local and national music icons such as Firehose and Mike Watt, HR of Bad Brains, The Melvins, The Vandals, Rage Against The Machine, Avail, Ramones, Supernova, Greyboy All-Stars, No Doubt, Butthole Survers, The Mentors, The Ziggens, and of course, Duran Duran.

Over ten major tours, three vans, and one motor home later, the band sas spread its garage-hall gospel all across America, creating a rabid grass-roots following everywhere they go, especially among the surf/skate/snowboard constituency best exemplified by sublime's co-headlining gigs on last summer's inaugural Warped Tour, a hybrid of punk and skating with L7, No Use For A Name, Fluf and others that were organized by Warp Magazine. Also furthering the group's natural connection to the board culture was the Sno- Core Tour–with Guttermouth and Skankin Pickle–which destroyed ski resorts (and hotel rooms) throughout Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and California.

Sublime was going all the way. The rock stardom would kill Brad in the end though. You see during his road to fame he started his "experiment" to live like a rock-star. Living like a rock-star can be defined in one word which is, drugs. Brad's drug of choice was heroin, the most addictive. Bud, Eric, & his new girlfriend Troy all were against his use of this drug and got him sobered up time after time it was no use his addiction was way to strong it over took his life it was impossible to fix. Soon he started getting tattoos on his arms to cover up the track marks from the needles.

Then on 5-25-96 in a hotel room Brad got a "bad trip" and died of a heroin overdose. He left his son Jakob, who will hopefully carry on what Brad would have done, and his wife Troy. Brad will always be with us Heart, Mind, & Soul.

By: Alex Roberts