Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition

Founder of metal band Trans-Siberian Orchestra

- By Tamara Lush

TAMPA — Paul O’Neill, who founded the progressiv­e metal band TransSiber­ian Orchestra that was known for its spectacula­r holiday concerts filled with theatrics, lasers and pyrotechni­cs, has died. He was 61.

University of South Florida police spokeswoma­n Renna Reddick said O’Neill was found dead in his room by hotel staff at a Tampa Embassy Suites late Wednesday afternoon. She says there were no obvious signs of foul play, and a medical examiner is working to determine an official cause.

The band said in a statement that O’Neill died from a “chronic illness.” The band calls his death “a profound and indescriba­ble loss for us all.”

O’Neill was a rock promas ducer and manager who began putting together TransSiber­ian Orchestra in 1996, blending heavy metal with classical music and creating an unusual brand of rock theater. He tapped three members of the Tarpon Springs, band Savatage to be part of TSO and intended for it to be a supergroup, similar to popular bands such as Pink Floyd and Yes.

“The best descriptio­n of a TSO show I ever saw came from a reporter who said the only way to describe TSO is ‘The Who meets Phantom of the Opera with Pink Floyd’s light show,’ ” O’Neill told the Tampa Bay Times in an email interview in 2012. “I would take any one of those alone as a compliment.”

The band is best known for its hard rock takes on Christmas staples such as “Carol of the Bells,” but also more experiment­al, arenarock songs such as “Christ- Eve (Sarajevo 12/24),” which described a lone cello player playing a forgotten holiday song in war-torn Sarajevo.

Fans especially loved the band’s Christmas tours, which were heavy on guitar solos and heavier on special effects — similar to a Broadway Christmas pageant with a heavy metal soundtrack.

“My personal theory is it was being in the right place at the right time. It was easier for us to jump the generation gap between all the people before us. There’s something magical about watching a 15-year-old kid get into an Al Pitrelli guitar solo and his father jamming out there with him. That’s [proof ] enough time has gone by that everybody has rock in common now,” O’Neill told Billboard.

O’Neill is survived by his wife and daughter.

 ?? JIM COOPER/AP ?? Paul O’Neill was found dead in his room by hotel staff at a Tampa Embassy Suites Wednesday afternoon. There were no obvious signs of foul play.
JIM COOPER/AP Paul O’Neill was found dead in his room by hotel staff at a Tampa Embassy Suites Wednesday afternoon. There were no obvious signs of foul play.

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