After struggling with a heroin addiction for years, Bradley Nowell died in May 1996 from a heroin overdose shortly after Sublime's final concert.
Wikimedia CommonsBradley Nowell performing in the mid-1990s.
Bradley Nowell’s death came at the most tragic possible moment of his life: his band Sublime had secured a major-label record deal, finished their third album, and were finally on the verge of mainstream fame. It was everything Nowell had ever wanted. But then Nowell died of a drug overdose.
On May 25, 1996, Bradley Nowell overdosed on heroin at the Ocean View Motel in San Francisco. He was just 28 years old.
He died just as Sublime approached the precipice of success. The ska punk band had spent years grinding through little clubs in Southern California, but they had a record label in hand and were about to embark on an international tour. Meanwhile, Nowell had married his longtime girlfriend just a week before his death, and was the father to their infant son, Jakob.
But beneath the surface, Nowell had struggled with heroin for years. He’d even sung about it. And though he’d tried to quit the drug on multiple occasions, this addiction sadly lead to Bradley Nowell’s death.
The Early Life Of Bradley Nowell
Bradley James Nowell was born on Feb. 22, 1968, in Long Beach, California, and enjoyed a childhood of surfing, sailing, boat racing — and music. As Rolling Stone reports, both his parents were musical, and Nowell started his own band, Hogan’s Heroes, when he was just 13.
According to VH1’s “Behind the Music,” Nowell was also a “difficult” child who was “bored by school” and “disruptive.” He was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder and prescribed Ritalin, which his widow Troy Dendekker later identified as the impetus for his future drug problems.
YouTubeBradley Nowell and his father, Jim.
After his parents divorced, Nowell’s behavior grew even more extreme. He ultimately went to live full-time with his father, and discovered reggae music during a 1979 father-son sailing trip to the Virgin Islands.
“Bob Marley was huge down there at the time,” Nowell’s father told VH1. “So when he came back, he could not only play it but he really enjoyed it.”
Indeed, reggae would be an important musical influence on Bradley Nowell, especially as he drifted toward a life in music.
The Rise Of Sublime — And The Beginning Of Bradley Nowell’s Struggle With Heroin
Though Bradley Nowell attended the University of California, Santa Cruz before transferring to California State University, Long Beach, he dropped out before earning a degree. Instead, he started to focus on his music.
In 1988, Nowell formed Sublime with bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh. He infused the band with the eclectic musical influences of his childhood and the diverse nature of his hometown; Sublime blended reggae rhythms and surf rock with rap verses and melodic hooks, and mixed Jamaican dub with the energetic punk music, creating a unique style.
Sublime/FacebookBradley Nowell playing with Sublime in an undated photo.
Before long, Sublime was playing anywhere that would let them. As Rolling Stone reports, they played at house parties, beach parties, frat parties, or their own parties. When their first album, 40 Oz. To Freedom came out in 1992, it became a word-of-mouth sensation and the song “Date Rape” was a sleeper hit. Two years later, Sublime released their sophomore album, the haphazard and highly experimental Robbin’ the Hood (1994).
But as Sublime grew bigger, so did Bradley Nowell’s drug problems. According to the Los Angeles Times, he started using heroin around 1992. From that point on, his addiction consumed his life.
“Now I’ve got the needle/I can shake but I can’t breathe/Take it away and I want more, more/One day I’m gonna lose the war,” Nowell sang on Robbin’ the Hood’s haunting song “Poolshark.”
Sadly, his words proved prophetic. Bradley Nowell died just two years after the album came out.
The Tragic Death Of Bradley Nowell
By 1996, Bradley Nowell seemed to be in a good place. The previous June, he and his girlfriend Troy Dendekker had had a son, Jakob. Roughly a year later, on May 18, 1996, they’d gotten married. What’s more, Nowell and Sublime had secured a major-label record contract with MCA Records, and the band seemed to be on the brink of mainstream success.
But Nowell was struggling behind the scenes.
Sublime/FacebookTroy Dendekker and Bradley Nowell on their wedding day. They got married just a week before Bradley Nowell’s death.
Though he’d attempted to quit heroin on multiple occasions — including when Dendekker got pregnant and when Sublime signed with MCA — Nowell continued to struggle with his addiction. During the recording of Sublime’s third album, Nowell frequently disappeared to the bathroom, and Rolling Stone reports that people often had to check “to see if Brad was still alive.” Before the album was done, its producer even sent Nowell home.
“It took him three days to get back on his feet,” his father recalled. “It was the worst I’d ever seen him.”
While Nowell was struggling, however, Sublime was preparing to go on a national, then international tour, amid the release of its third album. They started in California, but no one knew that their show on May 24, 1996, at the Phoenix Theatre in Petaluma would be their last.
When it ended, Sublime immediately traveled to San Francisco and checked into the Ocean View Motel. The next morning, May 25, 1996, Bud Gaugh found Nowell dead. He was lying on the floor with his Dalmation, Lou Dog.
Sublime/FacebookLou Dog, Sublime’s unofficial mascot.
“I thought I was in hell,” Gaugh told the Los Angeles Times.
Bradley Nowell died of a heroin overdose. He was just 28 years old.
The Legacy Of Bradley Nowell
After Bradley Nowell’s death, he was cremated. His ashes were strewn over his favorite childhood surfing spot in Surfside, California. But his story didn’t end there.
Two months after his death, Sublime released their self-titled third album. It was a bittersweet celebration of the band’s apex. “What I Got” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart, while “Santeria” became one of the defining alternative rock songs of the 1990s, and “Doin’ Time” remains a staple of celebrating the summertime.
The album went on to sell millions of copies and has since become certified platinum five times over.
But Sublime was over.
FindAGrave.comNowell’s grave.
“Sublime died when Brad did,” Gaugh said.
However, Gaugh and Wilson started to perform with singer-guitarist Rome Ramirez in 2009, and ultimately called themselves “Sublime with Rome.” Then, in 2024, things came full circle when Gaugh and Wilson began to perform with Jakob Nowell — Bradley Nowell’s son, who had been just under a year old when his father died — as “Sublime.”
In that way, Sublime has continued on. But so has the sad legacy of Bradley Nowell’s death, and his battle against his heroin addiction.
“There was always a part of him that wasn’t satisfied,” Dendekker stated. “As happy as he was 80 percent of the time, there was 20 percent that could not be made happy, and it ate him up.”
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