Michael Cuccione, actor-singer, 16

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

Tuesday January 16 07:14 PM EST

MTV "2gether" Member Dies 

A tragedy has ripped apart 2gether.

Michael Cuccione, who played Jason "Q.T." McKnight (aka "the cute one") on
MTV's boy-band spoof, died this weekend at the age of 16.

The actor-singer, who had fought Hodgkin's disease as a child, died of
natural causes Saturday night in his hometown of Vancouver.

"His lungs just gave out," his uncle, also named Michael Cuccione, told
MTV. "We weren't really expecting it."

Cuccione had been fighting respiratory problems for several months and did
not appear in the last several episodes of the MTV series.

"He fought gallantly," Michael's mother, Gloria, told ABCNews.com. The
teen was unable to fight off the effects of a car accident in early
December. He eventually contracted pneumonia, but had a difficulty
fighting the illness because his lungs were weakened by the chemotherapy
he endured to fight Hodgkin's disease as a child, his uncle said.

"He was in a lot of pain," his mother said. "I didn't realize how much he
was suffering because he hid it with a smile. I think God knew he was
suffering too much."

A well-known campaigner for cancer research and awareness following his
bout with the disease, the singer-actor established the charitable Michael
Cuccione Foundation for Cancer Research and turned a love of music into a
fundraising effort by recording a five-song CD, Make A Difference. He also
cowrote There Are Survivors: The Michael Cuccione Story with his
grandmother.

Although 2gether started off as a spoof of boy bands like 'N Sync and
Backstreet Boys, the group quickly became successful in their own right,
opening for Britney Spears and enjoying the success of two albums.

2gether's second album, 2gether Again, released late last summer, sold
more than 42,000 copies in its first week, landing at number 26 on the
Billboard album chart.

As for his role as McKnight, Cuccione once said pretty girls inspired him
to dance. "In my spare time I like to sneak into clubs and try to collect
phone numbers from as many pretty girls as possible," he said.

Cuccione's parents have asked donations be given to the Michael Cuccione
Foundation for Cancer Research instead of flowers. The address is P.O. Box
31081, #8-2929 St. John's St., Port Moody, British Columbia, V3H 4T4. 



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