[Deathwatch] Allen Shellenberger, musician, 39

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Allen Shellenberger dies at 39; drummer for Orange County band Lit
The musician, who set the beat for several top-10 Lit hits, succumbs to
brain cancer 15 months after being diagnosed.

By Dennis McLellan

August 15, 2009

Allen Shellenberger, the drummer for the multi-platinum-selling Orange
County rock band Lit, has died. He was 39.

Shellenberger died of brain cancer Thursday at his mother's home in
Artesia, said Ken Phillips, the band's publicist. Shellenberger was
diagnosed with malignant glioma in May 2008 and began undergoing
treatment; he performed with the band until last fall.

"To know Al was to know laughter," band members Kevin Baldes, Jeremy
Popoff and A. Jay Popoff said in a joint statement. "He had a heart of
gold and would do anything for anyone. Words cannot begin to express
how much he will be missed."

A graduate of Kennedy High School in La Palma, Shellenberger and his
bandmates began performing together in 1989.

They went through different style changes and names -- Razzle and Stain
-- before becoming Lit in the mid-'90s.

Lit recorded one album, "Tripping the Light Fantastic," in 1997 for an
independent label before its breakout major-label album debut in 1999
with "A Place in the Sun."

The album, released by RCA Records, went platinum, meaning it sold over
a million copies. It included the hit single ?My Own Worst Enemy,?
which held the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Modern Rock list for three
months and, according to Billboard, was the No. 1 Modern Rock single of
1999.

The other top-10 hit singles off "A Place in the Sun" were "Miserable"
and "Ziplock," and the band has since released two other albums that
have spawned top-10 hits.

Shellenberger, who was born Sept. 15, 1969, in Long Beach, brought
humor and "a certain calm to the band," said Baldes, the group's bass
player.

"He was a very peaceful guy," Baldes said Friday. "He didn't like
arguing, didn't like confrontation; he just liked to have a good time."


Even after Shellenberger was no longer able to play with the band,
Baldes said, "he'd be in the garage with his drum pads trying to keep
it up.

"Allen I don't think ever really knew that he was as sick as he was. To
him, it was like, 'When I get better. . . .' And that's what we
promoted to Allen -- when you get better."

Shellenberger is survived by his daughter, Giovanna Mackey; his mother,
Connie James; and his father, Paul Shellenberger.

Funeral services will be for family members only.

A memorial event is pending.


Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary