R.I.P. Paul O'Neill (Savatage/T.S.O. producer)

Chris Caffery just posted this on his official FB a few minutes ago:

"The entire Trans-Siberian Orchestra family, past and present, is heartbroken to share the devastating news that Paul O’Neill has passed away from chronic illness.

He was our friend and our leader -- a truly creative spirit and an altruistic soul. This is a profound and indescribable loss for us all.

We ask that you respect Paul’s family’s privacy now.

We will make additional announcements shortly."

Just read this on the TSO page. Sucks man, I hate this getting old thing.

Just received a text about this.

Sad to hear this news.

R.i.p.

damn, man.

RIP.

He was a big part of the Savatage family too.  

R.I.P.

That's a shame.
RIP

As a big fan of 90's Savatage this is a tough one for me. Our heroes won't live forever.

Thank you Paul for your contribution to music I love.

RIP. I'll jam some Savatage in his honor.

RIP. He was the producer on one of my favorite albums of all time - Badlands - Badlands.

Quite possibly the greatest Paul O'Neill song. Rest in peace, buddy.

I was delivering an order to a restaurant in Arlington and saw on a computer screen: "Trans Siberian Orchestra Founder...." the rest was cut off. I checked the internet on my new smart phone and found this out. I couldn't believe it and was truly sad. I love all eras of Savatage but the era with his input is my favorite and I absolutely love every TSO album. I read it was due to his diabetes, sad news indeed.



I agree with Lari about Believe and he has many other great songs. I really loved this one from the recent TSO album:


The other version seems to be more popular, but this version is much more soulful IMO.

R.I.P.

They are being very cryptic about his passing, then I read this...

Quote :

University of South Florida police spokeswoman Renna Reddick said O'Neill was found dead in his room by hotel staff at a Tampa Embassy Suites late Wednesday afternoon. She says there were no obvious signs of foul play, and a medical examiner is working to determine an official cause.

...which makes it more mysterious and sad if he died alone in a hotel room.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

They are being very cryptic about his passing, then I read this...

Quote :

University of South Florida police spokeswoman Renna Reddick said O'Neill was found dead in his room by hotel staff at a Tampa Embassy Suites late Wednesday afternoon. She says there were no obvious signs of foul play, and a medical examiner is working to determine an official cause.

...which makes it more mysterious and sad if he died alone in a hotel room.

Sad - big TSO fan. I hope they find a way to continue without being controlled by corporate overlords.

I hate to say it but my initial reaction was death by OD (probably heroin... and probably got addicted from painkillers.) The "respect privacy" "in a hotel room, no foul play" "chronic illness" sounds like an OD to me.

Didn't DallasBlack just say it was diabetes?

Anyway it's pointless to speculate.

I initially saw an article saying diabetes, but I'm not finding it now. All of them say chronic illness. I was using a smart phone so there's no telling where I got that or if it was even there. I was too shocked to pay attention to where the article was from.