Eric Wagner, former singer for the hugely important doom metal band Trouble, has died. As Brooklyn Vegan points out, Wagner’s son Luke posted the news of his passing in a comment on Trouble’s Facebook page last night. Wagner had been hospitalized for COVID-19 last week. He was 62.

Trouble formed in Aurora, Illinois in 1979, and Wagner was one of the founding members. Drawing on the influence of Black Sabbath, the band developed its own sludgy, psychedelic, mystical strain of underground metal. Trouble’s whole style went against many of the prevailing metal trends of the day. They played at a deliberate plod, not a sprint, and Wagner’s lyrics often referenced Christianity, rather than Satanism. On the strength of a 1983 live cassette, Trouble signed with Metal Blade and released their debut album Psalm 9 in 1984. Metal Blade famously marketed Trouble as “white metal,” as opposed to black metal, and the members of the band always seemed a little embarrassed about that. Eventually, the genre tag doom stuck instead, and Trouble became recognized as one of the foundational bands in the genre.

Trouble followed Psalm 9 with their 1985’s The Skull and 1987’s Run To The Light. In 1990, the band signed with Rick Rubin’s Def American label and released a self-titled album that Rubin produced. The band’s sound grew increasingly psychedelic until the mid-’90s, when Wagner left and Trouble went on hiatus. Wagner released one album with a band called Lid. Trouble returned without Wagner, and Wagner eventually rejoined Trouble for long enough to record the 2007 album Simple Mind Condition. Wagner again quit Trouble, for good this time, in 2008.

In 2012, Wagner formed the Skull, a new band that also featured two other former members of Trouble. The Skull, named after Trouble’s second album, would play Trouble songs live, but they also released albums of their own in 2014 and 2018. Wagner also released two albums with his solo project Blackfinger, and he sang on one of the songs from Dave Grohl’s 2004 Probot album. Earlier this year, the Skull headed out on tour with the Obsessed, but they left the tour because of COVID.

Below, check out some of Wagner’s work with Trouble and the Skull.