Very similar to Paul Hester (Crowded House) in that regard.
That was one that hit me really hard back in 2005 when he tragically took his life.
I thought I posted it here, but it must have been another forum here in Australia, so I guess not.
He was the heart of Crowded House (as much as Neil Finn was the brain and sword, and Nick Seymore the bassist, album artist, and lesser comedy relief). When he quit, Crowded House stopped. When he died, I thought it finished right there and then. I haven't bought an album or gone to a concert since he died, it's not the same.
I find a bit of irony in all of this... years ago when Midnight Oil played one of their farewell gigs here before Peter Garrett went full time into politics, in a rare event Rob Hirst was too ill to be able to do the gig... and they got Paul Hester to fill in. They had a spinning wheel of random songs for the night, and when one came up they asked if he knew it? He winged it anyway, and was still brilliant.
Author