PETER STEELE Photo Gallery Posted Online

April 15, 2010

California-based photographer Stephanie Cabral has posted a gallery of shots of TYPE O NEGATIVE frontman Peter Steele taken from 1994 through 2003. Check it out at this location.

Steele passed away yesterday (Wednesday, April 14) at the age of 48. No official cause of death has yet been released, but it is believed that Steele died of heart failure.

According to unconfirmed reports, Steele had been ill for days leading up to his death.

Steele was born Petrus T. Ratajczyk on January 4, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York. He stood 6' 7" (201 cm) tall, and had a low, bass-heavy voice, which was one of the most recognizable features in TYPE O NEGATIVE's music.

Before forming TYPE O NEGATIVE, Steele played for the metal group FALLOUT and the thrash band CARNIVORE.

"We have lost several artists over the years, but this is a biggie — this one hurts the most," Roadrunner Records A&R man Monte Conner, who first signed the band to the label in 1989, said in a statement. "Not just because Peter was a great, great guy, but he figures so prominently in the history of this company. He was a tortured soul for most of his life, and certainly for the entire time we all knew him. Let's hope he is in a better place."

Fan tributes to Steele flooded the forum of TYPE O NEGATIVE's official site, causing the band to briefly shut the section down. It's since been re-opened, and a brief statement from the group said that fans can expect "statements from the band and family later today ... thank you for your understanding and support."

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