Death
On October 17, 1993, at around 3:30 a.m., Criss and his wife Dawn were driving north on Highway 301 on his way to the Fourth Annual Livestock Festival held in Zephyrhills, Florida, just north of Tampa. An oncoming car operated by a drunk driver crossed the median and struck Criss' 1982 Mazda RX-7 head-on, killing him instantly. The drunk driver, who had seven prior DUI convictions, survived with minor injuries and was later found guilty of DUI manslaughter, DUI serious injury and vehicular homicide, serving 18 months in prison of a five year sentence.
The Thrash Metal band Overkill wrote a song named "R.I.P. (Undone)" on their 1993 album W.F.O. that pays tribute to Criss Oliva.
Criss's grave can be seen at Curlew Memorial Gardens which is two miles north of Clearwater just off of US 19 on Curlew Rd. A special memorial concert took place on November 23, 1993 with the surviving members of Savatage, including elder brother Jon, who returned for one night only, performing a special set. No guitarist played with the band that night, instead opting to leave a white Stratocaster with roses going up the neck which resembled the back cover of the 'Streets' album in the spot where Criss used to stand. The loss of their lead guitarist nearly signaled the end of Savatage, but during the earlier years the Oliva brothers made an agreement that if one of them were to pass away, the other should continue the band in memory of the other (although some ex-members of the band contest that story). Subsequently, Jon chose to continue the band.
When asked for a comment about Criss, his father said "He lived for that guitar" referring to his love of the guitar. "I would go over to his home for a visit and no matter what he was doing, on the phone, eating dinner, Criss would always have a guitar in his hands."
Criss played Jackson Guitars and Charvel Guitars. His favorite guitar was an ESP that later had a Jackson logo airbrushed on the headstock, with a maple fretboard, reversed headstock, a Bartolini single coil and humbucker pickup, and a transparent blue finish and a gargoyle painted on it, called the "Gargoyle Guitar".
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Famous quotes containing the word death:
“And of the other things death is a new office building filled with modern furniture,
A wise thing, but which has no purpose for us.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“It is easy to face Death and Fate, and the things that sound so dreadful. It is on my muddles that I look back with horror—on the things that I might have avoided.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“But, when nothing subsists from a distant past, after the death of others, after the destruction of objects, only the senses of smell and taste, weaker but more enduring, more intangible, more persistent, more faithful, continue for a long time, like souls, to remember, to wait, to hope, on the ruins of all the rest, to bring without flinching, on their nearly impalpable droplet, the immense edifice of memory.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)