Brian “Brizz” Gillis, founding member of ’90s boy band LFO, has died at age 47. Former bandmate Brad Fischetti, the last living member of the group, broke the news to Instagram on Thursday; sources close to Gillis later confirmed his death to Variety.
“Every story is made up of chapters. Some develop naturally. Some you have to cut up in your mind. The first two chapters of the LFO story lost a main character yesterday. Brian ‘Brizz’ Gillis passed away. I don’t have details and it wouldn’t be my place to share them if I did,” Fischetti writes on social media. “I am really struggling to process this tragic loss. I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it; the LFO Story is a tragedy. If you know what I’ve been doing, you know I’m trying to bring light into the darkness. Trying find redemption in pain and suffering. Trying to honor the legacy.”
LFO, known for their hits “Summer Girl” and “Girl on TV,” was started by Fischetti and Rich Cronin in Massachusetts in 1995. They were introduced to Gillis by notorious boy band mogul Lou Pearlman, who signed them to his Transcontinental Records label as a trio, per Rolling Stone. Gillis left the band in 1999 and was replaced by Devin Lima, after which the band would go on to achieve its biggest successes. However, Fischetti shared in his post that “If it wasn’t for [Gillis’] hard work and dedication in the early days of LFO, the first two chapters, the LFO you came to know and (hopefully) love would not exist.”
Cronin died of a stroke while battling leukemia in 2010, and Lima passed away from cancer in 2017, according to Rolling Stone. “I know that soon or maybe already, Brizz will be greeted by Rich and Devin,” Fischetti wrote, “And I hope that together, they will make some sweet sounds. I would really like that.”