CINDERELLA guitarist Jeff LaBar has died at the age of 58. No cause of death has yet been revealed.
According to Metal Sludge, LaBar's passing was confirmed by his son Sebastian. He wrote on social media: "So i just got the call… Jeff LaBar, my father, my hero, my idol, passed away today. I'm currently at a loss for words. I love you pop!"
Although CINDERELLA hasn't released a new studio album since 1994's "Still Climbing", the band started playing sporadic shows again in 2010 but has been largely inactive for the last few years while frontman Tom Keifer focused on his solo career.
Back in 2016, LaBar accepted blame for CINDERELLA's prolonged period of inactivity, explaining that his "drinking problem" caused a rift between him and his bandmates. He told "Another FN Podcast With Izzy Presley": "I can only speculate, but I believe it's all my fault. It's no secret that I've had a drinking problem. And it showed its ugly face on one of those [cruises that CINDERELLA played]. I guess that's what caused a rift… When I fell out on one of those cruise ships in front of everybody — like, basically O.D.'d — that's when the band, and mostly Tom, took notice and was, like, 'What the ****?'"
Asked if he was sober at the time of the interview, LaBar said: "No, I'm not. Which is the problem. Which is probably the problem. Like I said, I can only speculate, because I don't talk to the other guys anymore. I talk to Fred every now and then. Eric [Brittingham, bass] lives 20 minutes from me. We haven't talked lately, but Eric and I have been the most consistent of all my bandmates throughout the past 32 years. It's just Tom and I that don't talk anymore. And I can only speculate that he's very disappointed and doesn't wanna see me die. He doesn't wanna witness me dying."
Keifer told RockRevolt Magazine that "some issues" within the band — "going back decades" — had effectively sidelined the group for the past four years. He explained: "We took some pretty extreme measures to right the ship and fix things, and we made a pact as a band in 2012 that we would not do anything as a band until the issues were resolved. That's how much it came to a head. The issues are unresolved, so that's all I can say about that."
