Bob Heathcote, former bassist with Suicidal Tendencies, has died at the age of 58 following a motorcycling accident.

Heathcote’s son, Chris, confirmed the news in a Facebook post published yesterday (July 24). Part of his message read: “I cannot put words together other than the fact that this is a loss I will hardly recover (if ever), and the fact that he was a hard working father who raised five children, including me.”

The post said that Bob died from a motorbike accident. Both the nature of the incident and the time that it happened are unknown.

Bob played in Suicidal Tendencies in the late ’80s and contributed to the band’s third album, 1988’s ‘How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today’. He also appeared on three tracks on the band’s 1989 album ‘Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit… Déjà Vu’.

“His interests included music, traveling, race cars and attending race tracks. He was also a supporter of the Dodgers,” Chris’ message continued. “In addition to his work in the technology and photography industries, dad gained a bit of publicity in the late 80’s as the bass player of the legendary punk/metal act Suicidal Tendencies. His tenure with S.T. lasted for just one album, the Epic Records release ‘How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today’, which spawned the hits ‘Trip At The Brain’ and the title track ‘How Will I Laugh Tomorrow’.

“Those two songs garnered airplay from Headbangers Ball on MTV and active rock radio stations, including the defunct legendary Long Beach-based radio station 105.5 KNAC. After that album, he left S.T. and the band would replace him with future Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.”

Chris concluded: “Each and every moment I’ve shared with my dad will forever remain as a treat. Thank you dad for everything you did for me and my family. I will miss not only your keen sense of humour, but you and me doing a lot of things we loved doing together, including talking about or listening to music, traveling, going to the beach, going to Mexican restaurants, attending Dodger games, etc.”

Suicidal Tendencies have singer Mike Muir as the sole remaining original member. Their last album was 2018’s ‘Still Cyco Punk After All These Years’.

This is a developing story