In a strange accident, 35-year-old Brazilian rocker Ayres Sasaki died on stage after getting shocked during a live show.
A fan wearing wet clothes hugged him during the show, which caused an electric shock from a wire to go through the artist. The singer died nearly instantly on the spot where the wet fan hugged him. The freak accident happened in Salinopolis, Brazil, on July 13.
The police are looking into the death but so far haven’t released any statements.
While the inquiries are ongoing, the singer’s family hasn’t said much either. His aunt, Rita Matos, said that his show was supposed to be scheduled for a later time slot but was moved up. They are now talking to people who were with him at the time to find out what happened. Everyone has said they would continue to work with the officials to get to the bottom of what happened.
When he wasn’t performing on stage, Sasaki worked as an engineer. He left behind his newlywed wife, Mariana, whom he married only 11 months before being killed. People who knew the artist well said that he was a very skilled singer who loved music very much. He was said to have been the best singer and guitarist in Belém.
Adriano Freitas, who was friends with Sasaki, said that people called Sasaki the “king of encores” because he could keep playing. He once played for 12 hours straight.
Electrocutions of musicians are extremely rare, but they have happened before. Keith Relf, 33, the guitarist for the band Yardbirds, died while doing what he loved: making music. He plugged in an ungrounded guitar in his basement in 1976. He was shocked and killed. Relf would have emerged as a star had he not been overshadowed by other Yardbirds stars, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.
Lesley Harvey, a Scottish guitarist for Stone the Crows, was electrocuted on stage in 1972.
