Exodus vocalist Paul Baloff passed away just before noon on Saturday February 2nd. The 41-year-old vocalist suffered a stroke last Thursday (1-31-02) that resulted in massive brain damage. Baloff lapsed into a coma following the stroke and according to reports never regained consciousness. 

Baloff was one of the founding members of the metal group Exodus that also featured Metallica�s Kirk Hammett in an early incarnation of the group. Baloff left the group in 1987 but reunited with them a decade later. The reunion resulted in the live album, �Another Lesson in Violence�. The group recently announced that they planned another reunion however it is unclear whether they will carry on without Baloff. 

Paul will be missed and never forgotten by metal fans across the world. 

Exodus guitarist Gary Holt issued the following statement on Saturday shortly after Paul passed away. 

In My Words..... by Gary Holt

Words cannot describe the pain I am feeling, was feeling, at the sudden and oh so premature loss of Paul. As I sit here at the waters end of San Francisco Bay, I feel as if someone or something has torn my heart out of my body and smashed it on the rocks. Paul was my brother, my spirit, my soul� and he is gone. I wonder how I will ever recover, ever learn what it is to feel alive without him, and for this question, I have no answers.  Paul loved EXODUS, WAS EXODUS, and we loved him for it and in spite of it. His flame burned bright, so bright in fact that in hindsight it was all but impossible to have burned forever. Still, it burns in us and we must never let that flame burn out, lest Paul�s legacy and his contribution be forgotten. 

During my impending divorce, my pain has been constant, but so has Paul, in my support from him. When my depression would occasionally reach its apex, Paul was always there. No words necessary, just Paul taking action. A broken stereo receiver and an invite to launch it down the stairs, a double bladed axe and something to cleave in half. Therapy though vandalism I called it!  He knew how to bring me back. Yet, I have no way to do the same for him. I love Paul, always have and always will. There was, (is) a bond that even his untimely death cannot break, but right now my spirit is. The flame in me has died, my spirit torn asunder. I will fight through this. Paul was the ultimate fighter, he fought till the end, and to fight with anything less than his tenacity would be to do his memory an incredible injustice. I miss him I love him, and will keep his memory alive. I only ask that all of you to do the same. 

To each and every one of you, from the bottom of my heart I say THANK YOU, EXODUS thanks you, and Paul thanks you.

Sincerely,

Gary Holt