The one with the wicked chops.

That was a shocker.

A musician I hadn’t thought about in 10 years or so, except while briefly remembering high school as I thumbed through my CD collection, died last night of heart failure at age 48.

Even though I lost track of Type O Negative shortly after World Coming Down, hearing about Steele’s death was a little like hearing about one of your favorite countries being bombed, or finding out the college pizza place you spent all your time in closed down. Hearing he was 48 was a little weird, too — I’d always thought that guy had to be immortal or something.

The 6 -foot-7 bass player and lead singer was originally named Petrus T. Ratajczyk, hailed from Brooklyn, was a control freak, and had a baritone voice that could be mistaken for a bus driving by. Rumors of his death circulated in 2005, but it was found to be a publicity stunt related to the band’s signing to a new label. He also apparently posed in Playgirl as another stunt. Fascinating.

Not having the time to write a proper post just now, I’ll refer you to the stories written by NY Daily News and Rolling Stone.

You can also read the mournful posts on the band’s Myspace page, or visit their forums, where I’m sure some asshole will stir up shit eventually.

RIP, Steele.

Click here to view the embedded video.