PAUL RAVEN's Brother: 'This Family's Heart Is Bleeding And It Will Never Stop'

October 22, 2007

Daniel Jon Raven has issued the following statement regarding the passing of his brother, legendary bassist Paul Raven (MINISTRY, PRONG, SOCIETY 1, KILLING JOKE, GODFLESH, MOB RESEARCH):

"The expression 'one of a kind' has lost its value but my beautiful brother, Paul Vincent Raven, redefined it. He was a one-man army, as intelligent, funny, loving and singularly angry a man as I have ever known. His life was truly his own, from its beginning to this awful, tragic end. He was a born saint and an unbelievable asshole.

"This family's heart is bleeding and it will never stop. To know that we will never hear his voice and see his face again is a wound that nothing will heal.

"We would like to thank Paul's friends and comrades for their invaluable support at this impossible time."

Paul Raven was found dead on Saturday (October 20) in a private home in a small French village on the Swiss border after suffering an apparent heart attack. Raven was in Geneva working with French recording artists TREPONEM PAL on their new release alongside drummer Ted Parsons (PRONG) and members of THE YOUNG GODS.

Born in Wolverhampton, UK on January 16, 1961, Paul Vincent Raven established himself with his work in the seminal post-punk/industrial act KILLING JOKE after he replaced the band's original bassist in 1982, recording and touring with the group throughout its most commercially successful period, performing on "Fire Dances", "Night Time" and "Brighter than a Thousand Suns". Throughout his extensive career, Raven participated in other collaborations, including PRONG, MURDER, INC., PIGFACE and GODFLESH. Most recently, Raven was nominated for a 2006 Grammy for "Best Metal Performance" for his work with MINISTRY's Al Jourgensen, with whom he had begun collaborating in late 2005 on the MINISTRY release "Rio Grande Blood". After a 2006 world tour with the group, Raven helped Jourgensen and PRONG's Tommy Victor pen the latest MINISTRY CD, "The Last Sucker", which is also the band's final studio release.

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