Singer Greg Lee of Hepcat, the long-running Los Angeles ska band that emphasized the genre’s Jamaican roots over the punkier influences of ska’s second wave, died Tuesday, March 19. He was 53.
Lee had a brain aneurysm followed by cardiac arrest at home in Paramount on Sunday, March 17, according to his partner Amanda “Mandie” Becker in a post she wrote on GoFundMe.com. A campaign to raise money for Lee’s funeral and family expenses had raised more than $54,000 by early Friday.
“I found him on the floor unconscious and not breathing,” wrote Becker, who with Lee was expecting the arrival of a baby daughter in September. “I immediately called for 911 and the first responders were through the door within moments. They were able to regain his pulse, but he was not able to breathe on his own.
“He has been on life support in the ICU ever since and has not regained consciousness,” she continued. “The neurologist let us know his case is very rare and that the moment was swift. He did not suffer.”
Hepcat formed in Los Angeles in 1989 with Lee sharing vocals and harmonies with co-lead singer Alex Desert. At the time, Southern California bands such as The Untouchables and No Doubt, infused the music with the punk influences of late ’70s British bands such as the Specials, Bad Manners, the Selector and the English Beat.
Lee, in a 2009 interview with Slug Mag, said that while Hepcat was also a fan of those bands, it eventually became more interested in the original Jamaican ska music of the ’60s.
“We would go to ska shows to check out bands like No Doubt, but it got to the point where we’d really only be paying the ticket price to listen to the DJ and dance to the old stuff,” Lee told the magazine.
“We would pile into somebody’s old car and make the trek to some old record store just to get the chance to buy old Jamaican records,” he said. “We’d read the backs of the records and the liner notes and pass ’em all around the car on the ride home, just trying to learn as much about the music as we could.”
Hepcat’s debut album, “Out Of Nowhere,” was released in 1993. In 1998, they jumped to the Epitaph subsidiary Hellcat Records, for third album, “Right On Time,” which landed the band on the Warped Tour, and boosted their popularity more broadly.
After several hiatuses during the 2000s, the band reunited at the end of the decade and continued to play regularly in the years that followed. The photos that accompany this story were taken in 2021 at Brew Ska Ska in Irvine, where reviewer Kelli Skye Fadroski noted that “Hepcat brought a more mellow, but very much welcome vibe to the event with … soulful vocals turning heads and getting couples cozying up to one another and swaying along.”
The Wiltern in Los Angeles turned its marquee into a memorial to Lee on Wednesday, writing on it: “Greg Lee, LA’s Hepcat. Thank you for the music. You’ll be missed.”
Fellow musicians from bands including the Interrupters and Flogging Molly also posted tributes on social media.
“We are heartbroken by the sudden loss of our friend Greg,” Flogging Molly wrote on Facebook. “We’ll forever remember his kindness, his infectious smile and the many times we had the honor of sharing the stage with Hepcat. Our hearts are with his family, friends and bandmates.”
Members of the Interrupters were fans of Hepcat before they formed the band. They were thrilled when in 2016 Lee agreed to join them on stage for a show at the Roxy, the band wrote on Instagram. A year ago, the Interrupters had Hepcat open for them for a show at the House of Blues in Anaheim.
“As far as humans go, it doesn’t get better than Greg Lee,” the Interrupters’ Instagram post continued. “In any room he stepped into he was the coolest, sweetest, kindest, most talented, and definitely best dressed. The vibration would rise and the room would fill with joy. We are so grateful for all the beautiful music he shared with the world… but more than that, we are so grateful we got to know him as a person.
“Greg brought so much joy to the world and touched the lives of so many with his soulful voice, effortless dancing, one-of-a-kind smile and calming presence,” the band’s post continued. “He is forever tattooed on our hearts and will live forever through all the timeless music and wonderful memories he blessed us with.”
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Lee is survived by family including Becker and their unborn child and three older children.
“Gregory will … live on in every piece of music he wrote and recorded, in every photo and video you took at a Hepcat show or scooter rally, and in every memory you have of him,” Becker wrote on GoFundMe.com. “To all of his loving friends and fans, I am so sorry for this monumental loss. He has touched the lives and hearts of so many people all around the world through music and travel.
“His songs with Hepcat helped so many of us in both joyous and even depressing times,” she wrote. “He has inspired so many to create, dance, sing, and love. Myself included. His unique talents and presence will forever be unmatched. He is truly one-of-a-kind.
“I know you all will keep Gregory in your hearts and minds, play his songs, raise your glass with respect and tip your brim.”