Death is everywhere, its constant and it is unforgiving. Yet, the knowing of this fact brings no solace when we are faced with the death of someone we love. Founding Oh, Sleeper along side Ryan Conley, Shane Blay, James Erwin and Micha Kinard in April of 2006, Lucas Starr had a profound impact on the metal community with the creation of the bands formative releases. Ultimately leaving the band in 2011 before the recording of ‘Children of Fire’, Starr featured on ‘When I Am God’ and ‘Son of the Morning’ playing bass for the band.
Leaving us a legend, Lucas Starr was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer earlier this year and unfortunately passed away in the early hours of the seventh of December aged 34. A public gathering celebrating the life and achievements of Lucas Starr was held at City On A Hill Church in Fort Worth, Texas on the 15th of December.
Attended by family, friends and fans, the band’s guitarist and clean vocalist released the following statement -
‘Today is the funeral of our brother Lucas. I refuse to say that he lost his fight with cancer… the older I get, the more I realize that success isn’t measured in the amount of wins, its measured in the amount of trys and the effort you put into them. Not everything works out how you want in life, but at the end of the road if you can look back and say “I gave it my all” to everything that didn’t work out, you will rest easy.
Lucas gave 1000% to not only his fight with cancer, but to his friendships, his passions, and his family. He never stopped, he never wanted to lose momentum in anything he did so he rarely let anyone know how dark times got or how much things hurt because he always had his eye on the horizon for not only himself but also for those around him.
Lucas gave his all to everything… even at the benefit show, when it was excruciating to even sit up in a chair, he showed up early, loaded in his bass, cheered on all the bands from side stage, and then played the entire show with a smile on his face. We had a chair on stage for him and Shane had learned all his parts in the terminal set in case he couldn’t finish, but he refused to sit down and he refused to not finish the set… he did that for us, to encourage us to the end not to give up.
If you were touched by Lucas in anyway through the art or music he made, projects he started, friendship he gave you, or family he was to you… I can tell you with 100% certainty that he would not want you to give up your own fights or lose momentum in your passions or friendships because of his passing, instead he would want you to use his life as inspiration to try harder, suck it up and fight through the hard times, be strong for those around you and to love and create even more passionately because of it.
Thank you Lucas for the legend you left us with, I know where you are now and it’d be selfish to want you back. We love you and miss you, man. Archers forever.’
Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends, the metal community will never be the same.