2 musical icons pass away
Bruce Gaston, the American-born national award-winning music maestro and singer Ronnachai “Aod’’ Thomyapariwat, an 80s teen idol, have passed away.
Gaston, 74, who in 2009 received the Silpathorn Award in the field of music, is the first and only foreigner to win the Thai contemporary artist award.
Born in the US, Gaston graduated with a degree in music theory, composition, and philosophy and played several Western musical instruments.
At the age of 22, he moved to Thailand and began playing and practising Thai musical instruments with the help of Boonyong Ketkong, the late well-known Thai musical master who jointly founded the Fong Nam ThaiWestern musical band.
Gaston was married to Sarapi Gaston, a lecturer with Chualalongkorn University’s Faculty of Arts.
They have one son, Theeradol Theodore Gaston, a guitarist of the Flure band. Gaston died of liver cancer.
Meanwhile, singer Ronnachai “Aod’’ Thomyapariwat, frontman of the band Keereeboon, one of the 80s teen idols, died on Saturday night after battling brain cancer. He was 57.
He died at 10.15pm, according to a post on his Facebook fanclub page yesterday.
Keereeboon was one of the most popular bands of the 1980s in Thailand, and famous for the hit song Ror Wan Chan Rak Ther (Waiting for the Day that I Love You).
Sudhipong Vatanajang, one of his close friends, known as Chompoo Fruity, said on his Facebook account that Aod died of brain cancer but did not know when it had been diagnosed.
“Thank you to ‘P Aod and his family for everything they gave to us,” one of his supporters posted in reaction to the news.