Charlie Colin, founding member and bassist of band Train, dies at 58
![Charlie Colin, founding member and bassist of band Train, dies at 58 Charlie Colin, founding member and bassist of band Train, dies at 58](https://images.thedailystar.net/sites/default/files/styles/big_202/public/images/2024/05/23/screenshot_2024-05-23_163219.png)
Charlie Colin, the bassist and co-founder of the American pop-rock band Train, renowned for their early 2000s hits such as "Drops of Jupiter" and "Meet Virginia", has passed away at the age of 58.
Colin's sister, Carolyn Stephens, confirmed his death to The Associated Press on Wednesday. According to TMZ.com, he passed away after slipping and falling in the shower while house-sitting for a friend in Brussels, Belgium.
Colin spent his formative years in California and Virginia before pursuing his passion for music at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
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After college, Colin teamed up with guitarist Jimmy Stafford and singer Rob Hotchkiss to form a band called Apostles. Following the dissolution of the band, Colin spent a year in Singapore, focusing on writing jingles.
Colin, Hotchkiss, and Stafford moved to San Francisco, where they officially formed Train in the early 1990s, joining forces with singer Pat Monahan. Later, Colin enlisted drummer Scott Underwood to complete the lineup, as discussed in an interview with Colin and Hotchkiss featured in Berklee's alumni magazine.
As one of the founding members of Train, Colin contributed to the band's initial three albums: their self-titled debut in 1998, "Drops of Jupiter" in 2001, and "My Private Nation" in 2003. Both "Drops of Jupiter" and "My Private Nation" reached a peak position of No 6 on the Billboard 200 chart.
"Meet Virginia", featured on Train's debut album, achieved a top 20 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, it was their second album, "Drops of Jupiter", that solidified the band's success.
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Colin departed from Train in 2003 due to struggles with substance abuse. Pat Monahan, the band's lead vocalist, reflected on Colin's departure, stating, "Charlie is one incredible bass player, but he was in a lot of pain, and the way he was dealing with it was very painful for everyone else around him," in an interview with NBC San Diego.
In 2015, he reunited with Rob Hotchkiss to form a new band called Painbirds, alongside Tom Luce. Then, in 2017, he co-founded another band, the Side Deal, with Stan Frazier from Sugar Ray and Joel and Scott Owen from the PawnShop Kings.
Following Colin's passing, a tribute to him appeared on Train's official Facebook and Twitter pages. It read, "When I met Charlie Colin, front left, I fell in love with him. He was the sweetest guy and what a handsome chap. Let's make a band that's the only reasonable thing to do."
"His unique bass playing a beautiful guitar work helped get folks to notice us in SF and beyond. I'll always have a warm place for him in my heart. I always tried to pull him closer but he had a vision of his own. You're a legend, Charlie. Go charm the pants off those angels," it added.
Before his passing, Colin documented his time in Brussels, captioning a March Instagram post with "Officially my favourite city."
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