charlie colin
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Charlie Collen, founding bassist of pop rock band Train, has died. He was 58.
TMZ spoke to the musician's mother, who said the California-raised artist was house sitting for friends in Brussels when he slipped and fell in the shower to his death. Collin's mother said it was unclear when Collin died, as his body was discovered about five days ago after the friends returned from a trip.
His mother told TMZ that Collin had moved to Brussels to teach music master classes at a music school and was working on a new song for a film at the time of his death. Collin documented his time abroad on Instagram, where he wrote that the location was “officially [his] Favorite City” was posted in March.
Colin helped form Train in the 90s with lead singer Pat Monaghan, Rob Hotchkiss, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood. Before leaving the group in 2003 due to substance abuse issues, he participated in the recording of hits such as “Drops of Jupiter,” which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the band won a Grammy Award. It was nominated for the Best Rock Performance Award for the first time. Duo or group, and record of the year, and “Meet Virginia.” Train's self-titled debut album in 1999 reached No. 76 on the Billboard 200.
In 2015, Colin, Hotchkiss and Underwood formed the band Painbirds with Tom Ruth.
Colin, who grew up in Newport Beach, first encountered a stapler in middle school. The two later attended Berklee College of Music in Boston separately, but reunited when Hotchkiss formed the band Apostles. In 2015, Colin, Hotchkiss and Underwood formed the band Painbirds with Tom Ruth.
Colin, who grew up in Newport Beach, first met Hotchkiss in middle school after the two went on to study separately at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and reunited when Hotchkiss formed the band The Apostles.
After the Apostles broke up, Hotchkiss met Monahan and they began collaborating on songs in the Bay Area, they then invited Stafford and Collin to join the lineup, after which Collin brought in Underwood to play drums, and Train was born.
“Charlie called me and said, 'There's this weird synchronicity, I can't even imagine quitting the band,'” Hotchkiss recalled of his friend in a 2015 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “First and foremost, our priority is writing songs and we really enjoy playing them live.”
This article first appeared on Billboard.com.