LIZZY BORDEN Frontman Remembers Late Guitarist COREY JAMES

LIZZY BORDEN singer/namesake has released the following statement regarding the passing of the band's former guitarist Corey Daum (a.k.a. Corey James),who was killed in a car crash on Saturday morning (January 24) in Nashville, Tennessee:

"Corey was a LIZZY BORDEN guitarist from 1989 to 1995; he appeared in two LIZZY BORDEN videos — 'We Got The Power' and 'Love Is A Crime' — as well as on the 'Master of Disguise' tour.

"We were looking for a second guitarist to play alongside Alex Nelson and we had a cattle call of guitarists come down to audition. As soon as Corey walked in the room, I had high hopes for him. He was a tall, bone skinny kid with long blonde hair and a giant Colgate smile. He started playing and singing away with no fear and gave it all he had. I liked him immediately and so did everyone else. After he was done, I told him that we would get back to him after we finished the day, but in my mind I already knew that he was the guy. I called him later that night and asked him if he wanted to see the world and live in a tour bus for a couple of years. He was ecstatic and I could tell even over the phone that that smile would not leave his face while he slept that night…

"Corey was an innocent young kid who came to Hollywood to fulfill his dreams of becoming a world-famous rock guitarist. He found himself in an apartment complex on Yucca Street in a seedy part of Hollywood. The complex was filled with musicians from every other state and it was kind of the first place you had to live if you had the guts enough to come to Hollywood to pursue your dreams, a far cry from the small town in Pennsylvania that he came from. Inside of a week, he knew everyone in this giant apartment complex and introduced everyone to everyone else. Corey was a guy that could get people together; everybody wanted to be where he was. He made a seedy apartment in Hollywood the place to be for all young, soon-to-be rock stars and the girls that wanted to be with them. I even risked parking my Jag on that famous street just to come to one of his 'we're-in-this-thing-together' parties — that's the power of persuasion that Corey had.

"We toured quite a lot over the few years we were playing together. We saw a good part of the world and had the time of our lives night after night. To say he was a big part of that would be the ultimate understatement. Corey was the clue that held us all together and the one that we would send in to be the ambassador to break the ice when we were with strangers, and he always did.

"Corey moved to Nashville after the touring ended and we all lost touch for a few years. But when we were looking for a new guitarist for our latest tour, I tracked him down and tried to get him to come back on the road with us, but he had a new family and it just would have been too much to make it all work out. I said my goodbyes to him and that we would see him when the tour came through Nashville. That was the last time I spoke to him because the tour never came through Nashville. But I I'm grateful that I at least had those last phone conversations with Corey. He was the nicest guy you could ever meet and the best friend you could want. You were privileged if you had the chance to know him. He was a great talent, an extraordinary guitarist and an amazing singer and performer.

"After losing [former LIZZY BORDEN guitarist] Alex Nelson in 2004 to an auto accident, this is again extremely hard to take and we are all crushed by this news as I know his family and everyone that ever met him is right now.

"We send out our sincere condolences to his family and we will never forget Corey James; he will always be one of us forever."