Sad news Ministry fans; guitarist Mike Scaccia has passed away.

As Blabbermouth.net reported, he died on Dec 23rd while playing at the Rail Club in Ft Worth, Texas with the band Rigor Mortis.

Death was determined to be a heart attack brought on by heart disease.

Scaccia originally started off with the band who he played his last gig with, forming Mortis in 1983.

Ministry’s Al Jourgenson was so impressed with the band that he drafted Scaccia as lead guitarist for their landmark album, Psalm 69. His ghostly ringing tone on N.W.O. and the haywire shredding solo in Hero are just 2 examples of his prowess.

Scaccia drifted in and out of the band, but was on tap for their past 4 albums, including their most recent, Relapse.

In addition, he played guitar on Jourgenson’s side project Revolting Cocks. Jourgenson had this say about his friend’s passing on the band’s Facebook page:

I JUST LOST MY LIL’ BROTHER AND MY BEST FRIEND – THE 13TH PLANET COMPOUND IS DEVASTATED,COMPLETELY IN SHOCK AND SHATTERED. MIKEY WAS NOT ONLY THE BEST GUITAR PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, BUT HE WAS A CLOSE, CLOSE, CLOSE PART OF OUR FAMILY – AND I JUST LOST A HUGE CHUNK OF MY HEART TODAY. OUR LIVES ARE FOREVER CHANGED. LIFE WITHOUT MIKEY IS LIKE ORANGE JUICE WITHOUT PULP – KIND OF BLAND. I HAVE NO WORDS TO EXPRESS WHAT THIS GUY MEANT TO ME, MY FAMILY, MY CAREER….EVERYTHING!
GET TO KNOW HIS LEAD PARTS – FOR THEY ARE IN THE PANTHEON OF MUSIC! UNFORTUNATELY, MOST OF YOU DIDN’T GET TO KNOW MIKEY’S SOUL -WHICH IS IN THE PANTHEON OF HUMANITY. HE IS MY HERO, MY FRIEND AND MY IDOL. MIKEY WAS ALWAYS BESIDE ME – MY RIGHT HAND MAN – THROUGH THICK AND THIN, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY AND THE BEAUTIFUL.
REST IN PEACE MY BROTHER, MY FRIEND, MY HEART. PLEASE PRAY FOR MIKE SCACCIA AND JENNY, HIS WIFE AND THEIR CHILDREN, AND HIS FAMILY…..AL

Having grown up in Ft. Worth Texas myself, I recognize we lost an amazing musician, and a sorely underrated one at that.

Scaccia’s memorial service was held on Dec 30th, but fellow musicians are still raising funds to help cover his memorial service. You can donate by visiting here.

Sadly, this isn’t the first Ministry member to die; bassist Paul Raven (also of Killing Joke and Prong fame) passed away in 2007, also by a heart attack.