Tourniquet Co-Founder / Drummer Ted Kirkpatrick Dead at 62

20 August, 2022 thrashboy 0 Comments

Ted Kirkpatrick of the legendary metal band Tourniquet has died after a brief battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF),a rare terminal lung disease for which there is no cure. He was only 62 years old.

Primarily a drummer, Kirkpatrick was the principal songwriter for Tourniquet, and played other instruments whenever needed.

The news of Ted‘s passing was shared by his wife Cristy in a social media post late Friday night (August 19). She wrote: “I have some very sad news to share. My beloved husband went to be with the Lord today, August 19, 2022. He was surrounded by his family and loved ones.

“It was a blessing to see first-hand Ted’s amazing passion for so many things that captivated him for life, and it was humbling to stand by and witness his genius, creativity and seemingly never-ending natural talent.

“I know many of you are broken-hearted and certainly Ted‘s wish would be to celebrate his memory through his music through Tourniquet.

“About 4 months ago, Ted was experiencing chest pain and unusual shortness of breath. Up until this point, Ted had not been in a hospital in 40 years and all covid tests came up negative, to the end. After several doctor visits to a general practitioner, Ted was referred to see a pulmonologist who conducted many tests and an accurate diagnosis was made of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF),a rare terminal lung disease of which there is no cure.

“IPF is a serious disease that causes irreversible scarring of the lungs and progresses, or gets worse, over time. This scarring makes it difficult to breathe and eventually the lungs can’t inhale enough oxygen for the body to function properly. Typically, IPF causes severe shortness of breath to where the simplest activities of walking across a room seem nearly impossible.

“Ted was able to share a few thoughts the night before he passed.

“‘My life has been so full of adventure and wonderment and for the past 30 years all of you have been a great source of joy as you shared your love for our music, my passion for animals, and my desire to share the love of God with all of you. I’m forever grateful for the unending loyalty so many have shown through the years and support of whatever talents the Lord gave me on this earth.

“I leave behind so many wonderful friends, my wonderful family, the greatest family anyone could ask for, my brothers, Doug & Jim, my sister Sue, and my wife Cristy, my forever soul mate, my best friend and the most beautiful person I’ve ever known. Thank you and I’ll see you sometime on the other side. Love, Ted Kirkpatrick’.

“I’ll appreciate your prayers, Cristy.

“If you would like to help with Ted‘s expensive medical bills, a Go Fund me account has been set up.”

Earlier last month, Kirkpatrick shared the first two minutes of a brand new Tourniquet song called ‘The 408 Zodiac Cipher’ . The full song (with vocals) would appear on their upcoming album, which would be the follow up to “Gazing at Medusa” (2018). But with the death of Ted, Tourniquet has also come to an end, I think?

After the passing of Michael Bloodgood late last month and Kaleb Luebchow (War of Ages) earlier this month, is this another big loss for the Christian hard rock/metal scene. We at TMR wish Christy, their family and friends a lot of strength in this sad time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Tourniquet
Studio albums/EPs:

Stop the Bleeding (full-length, 1990)
Psycho Surgery (full-length, 1991)
Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (full-length, 1992)
Vanishing Lessons (full-length, 1994)
Carry the Wounded (EP, 1995)
Crawl to China (full-length, 1997)
Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm (full-length, 2000)
Where Moth and Rust Destroy (full-length, 2003)
Antiseptic Bloodbath (full-length, 2012)
Onward to Freedom (full-length, 2014)
Gazing at Medusa (full-length, 16 October 2018)

Video for ‘Ark of Suffering’ (1991)