Bruce Kenneth Waibel (July 9, 1958 – September 2, 2003) was an American musician who played for several artists and bands. He was last remembered for playing

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and touring with

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

FireHouse __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...

. He died in 2003 and his death was ruled a suicide.

Biography

Bruce Waibel was born on July 9, 1958, in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,366, reflecting an increase of 1,975 (+7.2%) from the 27,391 counted in the 2000 Census. In 2019, the Population Estimates Prog ...

.Bruce Kenneth Waibel Obituary
legacy.com accessdate July 21, 2018 When he was still a child, he moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He started playing

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

when he was 9 years old. In 1982, Waibel joined the

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

band as a

roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This ca ...

. Eventually he started playing guitar but switched to

during his last seven years with the band. He recorded three albums with them, earning two gold records. Waibel also performed with

Marshall Tucker The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country, and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. W ...

, Captain Beyond, Stevie Ray Vaughan,

Rick Derringer Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer; August 5, 1947) is an American guitarist, vocalist, producer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the 1960s as founding member of his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", was ...

and others. He met guitarist Bill Leverty (guitarist of FireHouse) in 2000 and was invited to audition for the band that year. He played with them for three years, recording one album ('' O₂''). He left the band in 2003 because he wanted to spend more time with his family. He also played bass on Leverty's first solo album, ''Wanderlust''. On September 2, 2003, Waibel was found dead at a friend's home in

. He had two children: Max Waibel (born in 1998) and Kimmerly Waibel.

References

1958 births 2003 suicides 2003 deaths People from Dover, New Jersey American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American rock guitarists American male guitarists FireHouse (band) members Suicides in Florida 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-bass-guitarist-stub