Todd Youth, a prolific punk guitarist who performed with the likes of Danzig and Warzone, has passed away at the age of 47.
Born Todd Schofield back in 1971, Todd Youth earned his recognisable stage name after making his debut with Agnostic Front back in 1983 at the age of twelve. Over the years, Youth world perform with other big names in the US punk scene, including Warzone, Murphy’s Law, D Generation, and Chrome Locust.
In 1999, Todd Youth scored his most high-profile gig, joining former Misfits frontman Glenn Danzig in his band of the same name. Alongside performing as part of Samhain, Youth continued to play in a number of notable groups over the years, including a brief stint as a member of Motörhead, performing with Glen Campbell, Ace Frehley, Son Of Sam, and Cheap Trick, and most recently teaming up with a number of punk legends to form Fireburn just last year.
Sadly though, news surfaced over the weekend that Todd Youth passed away, with his Fireburn bandmate Israel Joseph confirming the news via Facebook on Saturday.
“There are no words to express how sad I am at the passing of my brother Todd Youth,” Joseph wrote. “The music he made will forever be remembered, and I’m so thankful that I was able to work with him and that we created Fireburn together.”
“Todd and I were living separate lives doing hardcore and reggae music,” he continued. “We met each other in 1992 and then never spoke again until 2017. We created Fireburn within two weeks of knowing each other and finished writing two of my favorite hardcore records that I ever worked on: Don’t Stop The Youth, and ‘Shine’.”
“Closed Casket records signed the band and we were on our way. We had great shows and lots of people showed up to them. We toured with gbh from England, hung out with the guys from Negative Approach, and got our blessings about our music and our records from the Bad Brains.”
“I know that Todd is now resting in peace and I know that Krishna is taking his soul to a better place,” Israel Joseph continued. “He was a devout Hari Krishna and The Devout human being. Todd wherever you are I hope that we will make music again one day. Life is a circle and I know I’ll meet you again in that circle brother. We will meet again.”
While Todd Youth’s cause of death has yet to be made public, our thoughts go out to his friends, family, and bandmates during this difficult time.
Check out Todd Youth of Fireburn’s ‘Shine’:
