Bradley James Nowell

brad was born on febuary 22, 1968. he was a loving father, husband, poet, songwriter, and musician. he sang in such a way that makes every person feel his lyrics. his desire was one of the many things that made him such a great musician. he grew up in long beach california with his father, mom, stepmom, 1 brother and 3 sisters.he had married his wife troy 7 days before his death in the san fransisco hotel room he was sharing with band member bud. it happened may 25, 1996. brad was off drugs for a while, and the less he had, the more he wanted. he ended up shooting up heroin that night and died almost two hours later. "im happy that hes at peace right now" his wife troy said. "he was a loving kid. he always had a hug for me. he was always here to say i love you" jim nowell, brads father said.

its impossible to slap a label onto sublime. as brad says: this band is a hodgepodge of all the bands i listened to when i was younger.not like i mix it upon purpose, but more like its a subcontious type of thing.as a young kid i was heavily into hardcore punk like the circle jerks and black flag then i first heard the ska sound from bands like the selectors and and the specials. i thought this was the best music i ever heard.

"then came the rub a dub style of dance hall reggae music which i never been able to get out of my head since. a little later i was into run dmc and the whole nwa sounds i was blown away when i heard groups like bdp and krs-1 mixing rap and reggae it was devistating.  without really trying i now seem to put dance hall lyric melody over much of my attemps at writing other types of music"

"the bottom line is i love good music and i try to shy away from all these labels that people think are so necessary to slap on music. it seems like people get afraid of certain music if they cant pigeonhole it to their satisfaction. they will be up all night trying to slap a label onto sublime. good music is good music, that should be enough for anybody."-brad.

Brad has been my inspiration for years and always will be. even though he is no longer with us, i will always remember him as the most talented musician i have ever heard.every song he ever sang inspired me in every way. im glad that he is at peace and out of his struggle. i wish more than anything that i could have had a chance to meet him, because that would be the happiest day of my life....and something that would change my life for the better...more than anything. Even though i dont know him personally, he will always be in my heart as long as i live.  we love you brad.