Mojo Nixon Dead At 66
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Cult hero Mojo Nixon has died at age 66. The psychobilly musician, actor, and radio personality passed away while on the Outlaw Country Cruise, where he performed with his band the Toadliquors last night, after suffering a cardiac arrest. Nixon’s family released the following statement on social media:
Mojo Nixon
How you live is
how you should die.
Mojo Nixon was full-tilt, wide-open
rock hard, root hog, corner on two wheels + on fire…Passing after a blazing show, a raging night, closing the bar, taking no prisoners
+ a good breakfast with bandmates and friends.
A cardiac event on the Outlaw Country Cruise is about right… & that’s just how he did it.Mojo has left the building.
Since Elvis is everywhere, we know he was waiting for him in the alley out back.
Heaven help us all.
Nixon was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. His first album was a collaboration with Skid Roper called Mojo Nixon And Skid Roper, released in 1985 on Enigma Records. Nixon became known with his hit “Elvis Is Everywhere” from his 1987 LP Bo-Day-Shus!!!. Around this time, he satirized celebrities like Rick Astley and Deborah Gibson, while also touching on social issues in paraodies like “I Hate Banks,” “Burn Down The Malls,” and “The Amazing Bigfoot Diet.” He also appeared on MTV for promotional slots, but their decision to not air his video for “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child” caused a severing of ties. His song “Don Henley Must Die” also sparked controversy.
Nixon made his acting debut in 1989 with Great Balls of Fire!, a biopic about Jerry Lee Lewis that featured Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder. Other films he appeared in include 1993’s Super Mario Bros. and 1997’s Stag.
In the mid-90s, Nixon collaborated with Jello Biafra, Dave Alvin, and more, while also working as a radio DJ on San Diego’s KGB-FM and Cincinnati’s WEBN-FM. He retired from the music industry in 2004, though he returned in 2006 and again in 2009. In 2020, a documentary about him came out entitled The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon.
