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".
Read more about this topic: Criss Oliva
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“Our love is old, our lives are old,
And death shall come amain:
Should it come today, what man may say
We shall not live again?”
—Langdon Smith (1858–1908)
“I was now at a university in New York, a professor of existential psychology with the not inconsiderable thesis that magic, dread, and the perception of death were the roots of motivation.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“The Reverend Samuel Peters ... exaggerated the Blue Laws, but they did include “Capital Lawes” providing a death penalty for any child over sixteen who was found guilty of cursing or striking his natural parents; a death penalty for an incorrigible son; a law forbidding smoking except in a room in a private house; another law declaring smoking illegal except on a journey five miles away from home,...”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)