Frankly, I'm a little surprised I haven't heard more snarky comments regarding the death of Quiet Riot lead singer Kevin DuBrow last month, especially after coroner's reports released this week confirmed both that the cause of death was a cocaine overdose and that the singer died a full six days before his body was discovered at his Las Vegas home. Maybe it's just my cynicism, but given the highly negative view many people have of heavy metal (particularly '80s pop metal bands like Quiet Riot), I was afraid more people would cavalierly pour salt on very real psychic wounds by belittling the admittedly sordid circumstances of this man's death.

Luckily, I found little evidence of this kind of shameful response upon a cursory perusal of Internet content on this topic. So, I'll waste no more time and simply register my condolences and genuine sense of loss for a musician who meant a hell of a lot to '80s music, both as a vocalist and a hard rock renegade with a ragged, honest personality. We should all remember that even though Quiet Riot's moment in the sun didn't extend much further than 1983's smash album Metal Health, DuBrow and the band's hard-edged sound served as a link between the grimy '70s hard rock that was such a major influence on them and the softer, more accessible hard rock that followed. But don't blame DuBrow and Co. for the overglamming of Poison and other hair metal stars; Quiet Riot was the real deal, even if the band reigned for only a brief time. So please join me in honoring DuBrow's legacy as a musician and human being instead of lingering on his solitary and lamentable demise. Thanks, Kevin, for the caring metal health treatment you've given us all these years.