Birth name Charles Lopez Albums The Gift of Game Years active 1999–2004  | Name Rust Epique | |
Born February 29, 1968 Stockton, California, U.S. ( 1968-02-29 ) Origin Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Similar People Epic Mazur, Anthony Valli, James Bradley Jr, Shifty Shellshock, DJ AM | ||
Died March 9, 2004 (aged 36) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | ||
Rust epique dj am cxt
Charles Lopez (February 29, 1968 – March 9, 2004), better known by his stage name Rust Epique, was an American guitarist and Painter, who performed with the bands Crazy Town and pre)Thing. A native Californian, he was also known for his enthusiastic rock star lifestyle.
Contents
pre)Thing "Can't Stop" LIVE 2003 part 7/7
Biography
Epique was born in Stockton, California, but raised in Modesto, California. He lived there until choosing to pursue a musical career that allowed him to tour with many bands, including "Kinesthesia", "Xit", "The Limit", and "Cliff Morrison". In 1989, he relocated to Hollywood to further his career. Prior to joining Crazy Town, Rust fronted "RUSTANDTHESUPERHEROES" with Rust on guitar and vocals and Dave on bass and Mike on drums... In 1999, he joined Crazy Town, a rap metal band from Los Angeles. The band earned significant recognition with their hit single, Butterfly, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2001. Despite his success with Crazy Town, Epique quit the band as a result of various disagreements with his band mates. He formed the band RUSTADTHESUPERHEROES]] and began working on a four track demo CD to shop to the record labels.
In 2002, V2 Records signed Epique's band and gave him his own imprint label which he called 2V. Because Hanna Barbera owns the phrase Superheroes, the band changed their name to pre)Thing, which was a band name he had used previously in his hometown of Modesto, CA. They released their debut album, 22nd Century Lifestyle, on April 6, 2004 after months of being pushed back several times by V2's president Andy Gershon, who was not a fan of the band's live show. This was a huge source of stress on Epique and everyone involved with the band, including management, booking agents and personnel. The band was receiving handwritten letters of encouragement and excitement from label owner Sir Richard Branson and Rolling Stone Magazine made the album the number one editors pick upon release. In January of 2004 the first single, Faded Love, written by Epique, was finally released to much radio success. It was the number one most added song on modern rock charts. Full page ads were taken out in trade magazines. The band members were being promoted in magazines by their respective endorsement companies. Puma, Peace Music, Schecter guitars, Ampeg, etc. Faded Love immediately gained international support and was being played by Bob Harris on BBC Radio while it was picking up new stations around the US everyday. The song peaked nationly at number 38 on billboard charts. All support and promotion to radio from the record label came to a halt when Rust Epique passed away. But fans contiued to request the song giving it extended life in several major markets. Their song,"Can't Stop" was featured in two of the WWE's video games in 2004, WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW (PlayStation 2), WWE WrestleMania 21 (Xbox) and WWE Day of Reckoning (GameCube).
Rust Epique died of a heart attack while having sex on March 9, 2004 in his home in Las Vegas. Much speculation has been made in regards to his drug use causing his death. However, reliable sources have stated that Rust had a bad heart condition that runs in his family. Nevertheless, the world lost a very prolific and positive creative being that had a lot to offer and was about to deliver in a huge way.