CRASHDIET Will 'Definitely Not Continue As A Band' Following Death Of Frontman

The surviving members of the Swedish band CRASHDIET have issued a statement regarding the death of their frontman David Hellman (photo) (a.k.a. Dave Lepard) and the group's future plans.

As previously reported, Hellman was found dead Friday morning (Jan. 20). It has been unofficially reported that he hanged himself, although this has yet to be confirmed.

In a joint statement released to the media, Martin Sweet (guitar),Peter London (bass) and Eric Young (drums) said, "As a bandmember, but most of all as a person, we will miss him for all eternity. Dave was nothing but a genius and a very special person. CRASHDIET will definitely not continue as a band. CRASHDIET consisted of four people and now one has left us."

CRASHDIET was a Stockholm, Sweden-based Eighties hard rock-style band whose debut album, "Rest in Sleaze", entered the Swedish national album chart at position No. 12.

"It's pretty clear that, up to now, there's been a vacuum as far as hard rock goes," Dave said in a 2005 interview. "We can play a gig for 1,200 kids with big hair and skinny spandex-covered legs, who just stand there screaming. So it's even cooler when ZTV [Swedish music video channel] or MTV and the others play our rock-hard video which gets to be one of the most played clips alongside old ladies like J-Lo, or whatever she's called."

A video clip, dubbed "On the Road with Crashdiet 2005", was recently posted on their official web site. Check it out: Real Media, Windows Media.

CRASHDIET were reportedly the first "sleaze rock" band in over 10 years to be signed directly to a major company — Universal Music. The group, whose members were said to be in their early 20s, were scheduled to make their U.S. debut in March at the South by Southwest music conference/festival in Austin, Texas.