LFO, popular 90’s music group Known for the song “Summer Girls”, which lost one of its founding members.
Brian “Breeze” Gillis passed away on Wednesday at the age of 47. The cause of his death is still unknown.
Gillis was part of the group in its early days, along with Rich Cronin and Brad Fischetti. He and Cronin founded the band in 1995. Fichte later joined, and the trio was signed Lou Pearlman Trans Continental Records – the same label that signed boy bands like NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.
The band had some success after that, but it wasn’t until they released “Summer Girls,” a song also known as Abercrombie & Fitch, that they achieved stardom.
LFO members from left to right: Rich Cronin, Brian “Breeze” Gillis, and Brad Fichte. (image alliance)
Gillis left the group before this success came, and was replaced by Devin Lima. They went on to release another single, “Girl on TV”, with a music video starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.
The music video for LFO’s hit “Girl on TV” stars Jennifer Love Hewitt. (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)
Although the group’s members were in their twenties during their prime, Gillis is actually the third member of LFO to pass away.
Cronin passed away in 2010 After fighting leukemia. He suffered a stroke after taking medication to help him recover from complications from a stem cell transplant. He was 36 years old.
Devin Lima, quarterback, replaced Gillis in 1999. (Steve Granitz)
Lima passed away in 2018 Stage IV adrenal cancer. He was 41 years old.
Fischetti, the last surviving member of the LFO, posted a tribute to Gillis on his Instagram page.
“Every story is made up of chapters,” he began. “Some of them develop naturally. Others you have to think about. The first two chapters of the LFO story lost the main character yesterday.”
“Brian Breeze Gillis has passed away. I have no details and it wouldn’t be my place to share if I did. I’m really struggling to process this tragic loss. I’ve said it before and I’ll go on to say it; the LFO story is a tragedy. If you knew what I’ve been doing, you know I’m trying to I bring light into the darkness. I try to find salvation from pain and suffering. I try to honor the legacy.”
He called Gillis his “former bandmate and friend,” and wrote, “If it weren’t for his hard work and dedication in the early days of LFO, the first two chapters, The LFO You Know and (Hopefully) You’ll Love, wouldn’t exist.”
“My relationship with Brian was complicated,” he continued. “It contained moments of great adversity but also of great joy. I learned a lot from him about the music business, how to put together a show and rock music. And it is these positive aspects of our relationship that I will depend on now and forever.”
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“I have prayed for Brian every day for many years. I will continue to pray for him, for his beloved father, for his friends and family and those who love him,” said Fischetti.
LFO was first formed in Massachusetts in 1995. (image alliance)
In a poignant line highlighting the deaths of the former band members, he added: “I know that soon or perhaps already, Reese will be welcomed by Rich and Devin. And I hope together they make some beautiful sounds. I’d really like that.”
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He ended his tribute with “Rest east bro. Rest easy.”