Tony Richards, the first drummer W.A.S.P. had, has died at the age of 69. Blackie Lawless announced it on the band's social accounts on Wednesday.
"When the band was first started we were 4 extremely strong personalities. Tony was absolutely equal to any of the others that were in the band," Lawless wrote. "When he was gone from the band we were wounded in a way that we never really quite recovered from. He was equally a part of that first album and when that record is heard to this day his personal stamp will forever be a part of the totality of that recording."
Richards was in the band from 1982 to 1984 and played on the self titled debut that came out on 17 August 1984. He was out at the start of the tour behind it and Steve Riley took the seat. Before any of that he had played in Dante Fox, the band that turned into Great White.
Chris Holmes, who played guitar in the same line-up, was still speaking to him every month. "We learned that Tony Richards passed away," his wife and manager Catherine Holmes wrote. "He deserved not to be forgotten along with what he brought to this industry."
He is the third drummer to have passed through W.A.S.P. and died, after Frankie Banali in 2020 and Steve Riley in 2023.