Vale Deftones Bassist Chi Cheng

It's the news that Deftones fans had been dreading for years, though news that many of them considered inevitable, as the passing of that band's former bassist Chi Cheng was announced at the weekend.

The 42-year-old bassist, vocalist and poet – born Chi Ling Dai Cheng – was a founding member of Deftones, alongside Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter and Abe Cunningham, and stayed with the band for 20 years up until 2008, when tragedy struck. While travelling with his sister in Santa Clara, California, their automobile was involved in a serious accident which saw Cheng ejected from the car and left him in a coma.

In April of 2009 things got worse as he suffered a septicaemia infection, which required him to be readmitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital in which he was staying; he survived the infection but remained in hospital in a semi-conscious state.

A number of fundraising efforts were undertaken over the years that Cheng remained in hospital, including A Song For Chi, a song put together by Fieldy from Korn and featuring members of countless popular metal bands from the US, including Slipknot, POD, Disturbed, Machine Head, Hatebreed and more.

By May of 2010 Cheng was able to speak a very limited amount and move his hands slightly and 12 months later it was reported that he was undergoing rehabilitation in a special facility in New Jersey. He returned to California in June of 2012 but was rushed to ICU a couple of days later, suffering from pneumonia. After surviving that ordeal, he returned home to continue his rehabilitation.

At 3am on Friday 12 April, Californian time, Cheng's heart stopped after he was admitted to the emergency room once again. His mother Jeanne Marie Cheng, issued the following statement on oneloveforchi.com, a site established by Deftones fan Gina Blackmore to keep fans updated on Cheng's progress and raise money to help pay for his therapy and medical bills.

“This is the hardest thing to write to you. Your love and heart and devotion to Chi was unconditional and amazing.

I know that you will always remember him as a giant of a man on stage with a heart for every one of you.

He was taken to the emegency room and at 3 am today his heart just suddenly stopped. He left this world with me singing songs he liked in his ear.

He fought the good fight.You stood by him sending love daily. He knew that he was very loved and never alone.

I will write more later. I will be going through the oneloveforchi site and any other information may not be reliable.
If you have any stories or messages to share please send them to the onelove site. Please hold Mae and Ming and the siblings and especially Chi's son, Gabriel in your prayers. It is so hard to let go.

With great love and “Much Respect!” Mom J (and Chi)”