Richard Cipriano, who played bass in the early years of Sick of It All, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund has opened the Richie Cipriano Fund for his medical care and recovery, and Revelation Records is selling a shirt with the proceeds going to him.
His work is on the records that started the band: the early demo, the seven inch Revelation put out, and Blood, Sweat, And No Tears in 1989. That is the first New York hardcore album a great many people heard, and the bass on it is his.
Sweet Relief exists for exactly this, which is itself a comment on how American musicians are insured. Its grants cover insurance premiums, prescriptions, surgery and medical care, and also rent, food and utilities, because a diagnosis of this kind stops the work that pays for all of them.
The band he helped start is still going. Lou Koller, his brother Pete and Armand Majidi built it with him, and they have said this year that they intend to carry on. Hardcore talks constantly about taking care of its own; a fund with a name on it is how that gets tested.