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Famous Like Me > Composer > N > Bradley Nowell

Profile of Bradley Nowell on Famous Like Me

 
Name: Bradley Nowell  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 22nd February 1968
   
Place of Birth: Long Beach, California, USA
   
Profession: Composer
 
 
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Bradley Nowell (c. 1995)

Bradley James Nowell (February 22, 1968–May 25, 1996), from Long Beach, California, was the lead singer and guitar player in the musical group, Sublime (1988 – 1996). At the age of twenty-eight, Nowell was found dead on the floor of his motel room in San Francisco, the victim of a fatal heroin overdose.

Early years

Nowell was born on February 22, 1968, in Long Beach California. He was diagnosed with ADHD, although he got good grades at school. Bradley's parents divorced when he was ten years old. Like many children, he blamed himself for their actions. He lived with his mother, Nancy Nowell, in Orange County for four years.

In 1981, Nowell moved in with his father, Jim Nowell. At eleven years old he took a trip to the Virgin Islands with his father, where he experienced reggae music for the first time. This music would soon change his life, and his taste in music.

When Nowell returned from the Virgin Islands, he was given his first guitar on his twelfth birthday, upon which he practised his reggae style. Living in Long Beach he got a wide variety of many diverse genres of music. He got into other styles of music like punk rock, one of his favorite bands being Circle Jerks. From the day that Nowell got his first guitar, he started writing his own songs. At the age of thirteen he started his first band, called Hogan's Heroes, but it didn't last very long, disbanding soon afterwards.

In 1986 Nowell, an honor roll student, graduated from Wilson High School, and went on to college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was one semester away from receiving a degree in business, but dropped out to pursue his music career full time. Around this time, Nowell found another musical love, hip hop. His musical mix of rock, jazz, hip hop, punk, reggae, dub, funk, ska, and heavy metal seemed to be a product of his Long Beach youth. Brad soon teamed up with bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh, whom he met in Santa Cruz. Together, the trio formed the band Sublime in 1988.

Sublime

Sublime quickly became one of the most popular bands in Southern California. They were the most popular band on the campus of California State University, Long Beach, often playing at parties and bars in exchange for alcohol.

Nowell and Michael Happoldt created Skunk Records, and distributed the band's demo tapes at shows and local record stores. A few years later, Sublime recorded for the first time in the studio, and created the popular cassette tape called Jah Won't Pay the Bills.

As Brad prepared plans to tour with the new material, he found that Gaugh was battling a drug problem. Gaugh soon decided to check himself into a drug rehabilitation center. Instead of touring without Gaugh, Sublime decided to stay and create their first recording album.

In 1992, 40 Oz. to Freedom was released. Kelly Vargas temporarily covered for Gaugh. Sixty-thousand copies were distributed and sold from the trunk of Nowell's car. Despite growing popularity in Southern California, Sublime still had not landed a record deal with a major label.

Frustrated by rejection of the major record companies, Nowell descended into a two-year heroin "experiment". This entailed shooting up heroin to supposedly boost his creativity and thereby increase the likelihood of attracting a record label.

About a year later, a man named Tazy Phillipz took a copy of 40 Oz. to Freedom to Los Angeles radio station KROQ and asked to have the single "Date Rape" be added to the playlist. Soon after, MCA records picked up 40 Oz. to Freedom for nationwide distribution. The album soon entered the Billboard charts.

Attention from a major label did not curb Nowell's drug use. Not only did he increase his intake of marijuana, he also increased his usage of heroin. Nowell wrote about his drug addiction in the song "Pool Shark": "Take it away but I want more and more/One day I'm going to lose the war".

While on tour, Nowell met Troy Dendekker. The two soon began a relationship. In September of 1994, Troy became pregnant. In preparation for fatherhood, Brad tried to overcome his drug dependency. In June 1995, Jakob James Nowell was born.

In 1996, Sublime went back into the studio to record their self-titled major-label debut album. Nowell soon succumbed to the pressure of recording the album, and he increased his use of heroin again. In yet another attempt to beat his addiction, Nowell checked himself into rehab, and was clean after six months. Nowell resumed recording the major label debut album.

Bradley's battle with heroin

With his life back on track, Nowell married Dendekker on May 18, 1996. Two days later, Sublime embarked on a tour. Nowell played his last show at The Phoenix theater in Petaluma, California.

On May 25, 1996, at about 08:00, Sublime was ready to leave the hotel. Gaugh knocked on Bradley’s door. After not receiving an answer, the door was opened, and Nowell was found to have died of a heroin overdose. He was twenty-eight years old. He was buried at Westminster Memorial in Westminster, California. At the funeral on May 27, 1996, his father said:

"Brad will always live for me in his son, Jake, and we can all seek relief from our grief by loving and nurturing the son he gave to us. Brad touched many people with his caring personality and musical genius and we are all lucky to have had him in our lives. Men who have lived longer have achieved less and I am content that he is now at peace."

The self-titled album was released shortly after Nowell's death. It sold over 3.5 million copies.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bradley Nowell