Riley Gale, Singer for Thrash Band Powertrip Dead at 34
Sad news comes in from world of heavy metal as singer for the Texas thrash band Power Trip, Riley Gale has died. He was 34 years old.
Gale’s death was announced on the Power Trip Facebook page with the following message.
“Rest in peace to our brother and bandmate, Riley Gale.
“It is with the greatest of sadness we must announce that our lead singer and brother Riley Gale passed away last night.
“Riley was a friend, a brother, a son. Riley was both a larger than life rock star and a humble and giving friend. He touched so many lives through his lyrics and through his huge heart. He treated everyone he met as a friend and he always took care of his friends.
"We will celebrate Riley's life and never forget the great works of music, charity, and love that he left behind. You, the fans, meant so much to him, please know how special you are. If you have a memory of Riley please share it, no matter how small, as we remember him.”
The band added that those wishing to honor Gale’s death could send donations to Dallas Hope Charities in lieu of flowers.
Gale formed the band Power Trip when he was 22. He was working an office job and going to school at the University of North Texas in Denton at the time.
In 2013, the band signed with Southern Lord Records and released their first studio album, Manifest Decimation. Their second album, Nightmare Logic was released in 2017 to high critical acclaim. In 2018, they released the album Opening Fire 2008-2014, which was a compilation of the unreleased music the band made before they were signed.
The band toured and performed with many notable acts including Ozzy Osbourne, Testament, D.R.I, Danzig and more.
Gale was known for being politically outspoken. The Power Trip song “If Not Us Than Who” was inspired by late civil rights activist John Lewis. The album had an overriding theme about the disparity of wealth and a revolt against the very rich.
When Fox News played a snippet of the band’s music, they responded with a Tweet stating, “CEASE AND DESIST”. Later in an interview, Gale followed up with the statement, “If you don't like our stances, don't support our band. It doesn't make a single difference to us. ... We try to make it pretty clear that we might all be white males, but this is not a band for white males to enjoy and be dumb rednecks.”
In that same interview, Gale also puzzled over the band’s success stating, “It’s a mystery to me that we’re as big as we are. I saw us hitting a ceiling a lot longer ago and now we’re having people telling us we could turn this into a career and I don’t know if I believe them. I don’t even know if I have it in me, but we’re going to try.”
There has been an outpouring of tributes coming in from fellow musicians in the heavy metal community. Members of Slipknot, Anthrax, Body Count, Machine Head and Code Orange are among those who have posted on social media in honor of the rocker’s death. No cause of death has been announced.
