NEED TO KNOW
Mastodon co-founder and guitarist Brent Hinds has died in a motorcycle crash. He was 51.
“We are in a state of unfathomable sadness and grief… last night Brent Hinds passed away as a result of a tragic accident,” a statement from the band said via Instagram on Aug. 21 with a black-and-white photo of the musician.
“We are heartbroken, shocked, and still trying to process the loss of this creative force with whom we’ve shared so many triumphs, milestones, and the creation of music that has touched the hearts of so many. Our hearts are with Brent’s family, friends, and fans,” continued the band.
“At this time, we please ask that you respect everyone’s privacy during this difficult time,” further read the post. “RIP Brent.”
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Per Atlanta News First, on Wednesday, Aug. 20, around 11:35 p.m., Hinds was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle when he collided with a BMW SUV that didn’t yield while making a turn at an intersection.
A police report stated Hinds was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel.
The musician, whose full name is William Brent Hinds, was born in 1974 and grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, per Pitchfork. As a teen, he learned to play the banjo. He spent a year at Alabama School of Fine Arts studying classical guitar before dropping out.
In 2009, Hinds told The Guardian he considered himself “a total hellion, straight outta hell, with red eyes and everythin’,” especially when he discovered Metallica’s Master of Puppets at age 13.
“I grew up in Alabama, in Birmingham. Boring-ham. I was very dysfunctional at school, just a jackass. I’d take LSD and come to class still tripping. I was too creative, never doing my homework, just filling my notepad up with drawings of skulls. I was probably like every other teenager, to be honest with you,” he said.
Hinds was part of Four Hour Fogger before forming Mastodon in 2000 with bassist Troy Sanders, guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor in Atlanta. “That’s when I started getting really serious about music, because I had given up everything else and moved to Atlanta,” he told the Guardian. “Music was what I was gonna do. I’m real stubborn, you know?”
The band won the Best Metal Performance Grammy in 2018 for “Sultan’s Curse” and received six nominations throughout its tenure. Hinds has singing and songwriting credits on the band’s eight albums, including their 2021 release Hushed and Grim.
His final recording with the band was “Floods of Triton” in 2024, a collaboration with Lamb of God.
Earlier this year, the heavy metal band announced Hinds was no longer part of the group. “We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared and we wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors,” they wrote on Instagram in March.
However, Hinds claimed he was kicked out of the “horrible band” on Instagram.
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The guitarist was slated to play at the Rare Records recording studio in Winchester, Tenn., at the end of the month. Those who made reservations will be refunded, and the studio “set up a place for donations for his memorial to be given to his mother” on their website.
Hinds married Raisa Moreno in May 2017.
