Blackie Onassis, drummer for the ’90s Chicago band Urge Overkill, has died at age 57.
“Urge Overkill is saddened to report that Blackie has passed away,” said a statement on the band’s Twitter page that did not reveal his cause of death. “Please respect our privacy at this time. We are sending much love to his family and all his fans. We know he will be missed.”
Urge Overkill is saddened to report that Blackie has passed away. Please respect our privacy at this time. We are sending much love to his family and all his fans. We know he will be missed.
— Urge Overkill (@UrgeOverkill) June 14, 2023
With a sound that the Sun-Times labeled a “postmodern take on ’70s funk and metal,” Urge Overkill was one of the leaders of Chicago’s alternative pop boom of the early 1990s, making its biggest mark with a cover of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” featured on the hit soundtrack for “Pulp Fiction” (1994).
Onassis, a Beverly native who was born John Rowan, joined founders Nathan “Nash Kato” Katruud and Eddie “King” Roeser in the band in 1991, shortly after it released its “Americruiser” EP, which established its distinct sound.
Onassis “grew up listening to things like the Steve Miller Band,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times in 1993 when talking about musical influences.
Urge Overkill had a rock radio hit with “Sister Havana” off 1993’s “Saturation,” its major-label debut on Geffen Records. After the less successful “Exit the Dragon” (1995), the band fell apart.
Onassis was not part of a 2004 Urge Overkill reunion that included bandmates Kato and Roeser.
