With a Heavy Heart, we bring you this sad news. Trans-Siberian Orchestra‘s founder Paul O’Neill was found dead at the age of 61. The cause of death was described by the band’s official page as a “chronic illness”. Statement embedded below.
Paul O’Neill was a legendary music producer who worked with many Rock and Pop icons such as Savatage, Madonna, Sting, Aerosmith, Heaven, Metal Church, Bon Jovi, Dio, and many more. From his humble beginnings at Leber-Krebs Inc. until founding and producing one of the biggest Touring act in the last 2 decades, Paul O’Neill left a remarkable mark into our world. Rest In Peace.
About Paul Paul O’Neill
(Taken from TSO official Website)
Paul O’Neill: Composer, Lyricist, Producer
Trans-Siberian Orchestra was formed in 1996 by Paul O’Neill who immediately approached long time friends and collaborators Robert Kinkel and Jon Oliva to form a core writing team. Paul O’Neill is a rare talent; a prolific writer and producer with a tremendously varied career in the music industry. A New York City native, O’Neill shaped his passion for music around the varied sounds he was introduced to while growing up – from Queen to classical, Yes to Harry Chapin, Broadway musicals to Jim Croce. After playing with a number of rock bands through high school and playing folk guitar gigs at downtown clubs, Paul took his first serious musical steps almost 20 years ago as the guitarist in the touring productions of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Hair.” From 1980-85 he worked at Leber-Krebs Inc., the legendary management company that launched the careers of Aerosmith, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Ted Nugent, The New York Dolls, The Scorpions, and Michael Bolton among others. In the 1980’s, Paul became one of the biggest rock promoters in Japan, promoting every tour of Madonna and Sting done in that decade, as well as some of the biggest rock festivals with such acts as Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and Ronnie James Dio. O’Neill’s productions include Aerosmith’s platinum “Classics Live, Volumes 1 & 2,” Savatage’s critically acclaimed “Hall of the Mountain King,” “Gutter Ballet,” the rock operas “Streets,” “Dead Winter Dead,” as well as the “Badlands” debut album. From there he expanded his horizons to create the ageless and widely praised Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO). The platinum selling band quickly became one of Lava/Atlantic’s top artists. An established songwriter, O’Neill has also written and directed several music videos highlighted by “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” from TSO’s debut album “Christmas Eve and Other Stories,” as well as the TV special “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” starring Michael Crawford, Ossie Davis, Jewel, and TSO. TSO’s music has recently been featured in several films such as “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” and “Little Vampires.”
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