James Lynn Strait (August 7, 1968 – December 11, 1998) was an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist for the nu metal band Snot.

Biography

Strait was born in New York City, but moved to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

as a teen and immediately embraced the '

SoCal Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ag ...

punk scene The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...

. Prior to his work with Snot, Strait had played bass in Goleta-based

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band Lethal Dose, but he had never sung in a band. "I always wanted to because it seemed like a lot of fun. But I wasn't into what most bands were playing". Starting from scratch was an advantage for Strait: "There's nobody to emulate. I won't say what I do is groundbreaking, but some of it is original; there are weird patterns in my vocals, because I got to make up my style as I went along". Strait also served as the band's lyricist and appeared as a guest on

Tura Satana Tura Satana (July 10, 1938Some sources give her birth year as 1935, i.e. Dave Itzkoff"Tura Satana, Cult Actress, Is Dead" ''New York Times'', February 5, 2011; accessed January 8, 2014. – February 4, 2011) was a Japanese American actress, v ...

's song "Down", a duet with friend

Tairrie B Theresa Beth (born January 18, 1965), known professionally as Tairrie B, is an American singer and rapper. Career She started her music career as part of the female dance group Bardeux. After the release of their debut single, "Three-Time Lov ...

on Manhole/

's first album. Landing a recording contract was a dream come true for some of his friends, but Strait was underwhelmed by the development. His response: "Yeah, now I can order cheese on my Whopper". While his bandmates were signing the contracts, Strait was completing a month-long sentence in the county jail, where he had spent a year in the early 1990s.

Death and legacy

According to

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enforcem ...

reports, on December 11, 1998, Strait was traveling from

to Los Angeles and was killed in a two-car crash. The crash occurred on a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

off-ramp. Only one other driver, David Redderson, was injured in the crash and he was released from Saint Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara. Also killed in the accident was Strait's

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, Dobbs, who was on the cover of the band's 1997 debut album '' Get Some'', and served as the group's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

. The band

Sevendust Sevendust is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and rhythm guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and lead guitarist Clint Lo ...

paid tribute to Strait with the song "

Angel's Son "Angel's Son" is a song written by Clint Lowery and Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust and performed by Witherspoon, fellow Sevendust members (drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist/vocalist Clint Lowery) and ex- Snot band member (now ex-Sevendust guitaris ...

". A tribute album entitled ''

Strait Up ''Strait Up'' is the second studio album by the American nu metal band Snot, released on November 7, 2000. The album features appearances by various alternative metal musicians. The album was released as a tribute to Snot's lead singer Lynn Stra ...

'' was released on November 7, 2000, on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

Immortal Records Immortal Records was an American independent record label/imprint label based in Los Angeles, California. The company helped launch the careers of such influential acts as Korn, Thirty Seconds To Mars, and Incubus over the years. The label had ...

, compiled with the help of members of Limp Bizkit, Korn, Slipknot,

, Hed PE,

Coal Chamber Coal Chamber is an American nu metal band formed by Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón in Los Angeles, California in 1993. Prior to Coal Chamber, the two had also created the band She's in Pain, in 1992. The original lineup also consisted of bassist ...

Sugar Ray Sugar Ray is an American rock band formed in Newport Beach, California, in 1986. Originally playing heavier funk metal and nu metal style music, the band achieved mainstream popularity in 1997 with their more pop-influenced single "Fly". The ...

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1997, and later based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 19 ...

Incubus An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in t ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, and others. The album contains tributes to Strait with backing from the remaining band. Also on the record was a remixed version of Strait's last recording with Snot, a song titled "Absent", the original version of which was included on the '' Strangeland'' soundtrack. On August 7, 1999, fans were encouraged to buy copies of Snot's debut CD ''Get Some'' in an attempt to cause a jump in the charts on what would have been Strait's 31st birthday. The band

My Ruin My Ruin is an American alternative metal band from Los Angeles, California, composed of the husband and wife duo Tairrie B and Mick Murphy. The band has been through various line-up changes since its formation in 1999. The band's sound consis ...

fronted by

paid tribute to him with a song called "Rockstar". The band NOFX mentions Strait and Dobbs in their song "Doornails", in which they pay tribute to deceased punk band members. Strait had previously provided backing vocals on their song "The Brews". British band Reuben paid tribute to him and Kurt Cobain in their song "Push".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strait 1968 births 1998 deaths People from Manhasset, New York American heavy metal singers Nu metal singers American punk rock singers Road incident deaths in California Alternative metal musicians 20th-century American singers Snot (band) members