Chuck Varga, a founding member of the costumed shock-metal act Gwar, has died. He was 68.
Gwar bassist Casey Orr confirmed Varga’s death, which came after a cancer battle, in a post to social media on Friday.
“He was one of a kind. As an artist, as a performer; as a scholar and a gentleman,” Orr (who performs as Beefcake the Mighty) wrote on Facebook. “I’m better for having known him and the world is lesser for his leaving.”
Varga was a member in the earliest incarnations of Gwar — famed for its outrageous costumes and blood-soaked sets — as Sexicutioner from 1985 to 1997.
He co-founded Slave Pit Studios in Richmond, Va., where the concept for Gwar first emerged. Varga contributed costumes, props, sets and visual artwork to Gwar, which became infamous beyond the metal world for their grotesque (if good-natured) theatrics, which included disemboweling effigies of religious and political figures onstage.
He occasionally performed with the group until retiring in 2021. In June, the band set up a fundraiser to cover medical expenses for Varga’s cancer treatment, with the band’s Bob Gorman (a.k.a. Bonesnapper) saying that “Chuck Varga’s contributions to the Gwar and Slave Pit collective are enormous. The influence of his illustrations, character designs, performances, and artistic vision can still be felt throughout Gwar today. Chuck’s over-the-top underground art aesthetic helped define an entire universe and inspired generations of artists and fans around the world.”
Gwar previously lost Dave Brockie, the band’s longtime frontman known as Oderus Urungus, who died in 2014, and Cory Smoot, the guitarist who played as Flattus Maximus, who died in 2011.
Orr’s post announcing Varga’s death said that he was survived by his wife, Bambi.
“He is most likely being welcomed into Valhalla right now by Brockie and Smooty and all who went before,” Orr wrote. “Raise your glass and tell his tales. Legends never die. Hail Varga! Hail Sexicutioner!”
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