Ronnie Montrose’s death was a suicide
The San Mateo County coroner’s office ruled on Friday that guitarist Ronnie Montrose, who was found dead at his home in Brisbane last month, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Montrose, 64, was found in the living room of his home on March 3 holding a .38-caliber revolver and pronounced dead at the scene. His autopsy showed that, at the time of his death, Montrose’s blood alcohol level was 0.31 percent, nearly four times the legal limit for intoxication in California. SFgate.com says:
Montrose, a San Francisco native, played with Van Morrison, Boz Scaggs and the Edgar Winter Group. But his greatest success came with his own band, Montrose, which he formed in 1973. The original lineup featured Sammy Hagar on vocals and released two rock classics, “Montrose,” and 1974{minute}s “Paper Money.” He also formed the band Gamma.
Although Montrose was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, he announced in 2009 that the cancer was in remission. Leighsa Montrose said that the guitarist suffered from lifelong, clinical depression.
“He was very hard on himself,” she said. “He would play shows where there would be three standing ovations, and all he would talk about on the drive home is what he didn’t do right.”
Montrose took two years off to recover from his cancer surgery, but spent later years touring. He played almost 50 shows last year.
Montrose did not leave a suicide note. We will all miss his talent.
-Bill at
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