Shaun Glass, R.I.P.
(August 03, 1968 - July 01, 2026)
Shaun Glass passed away on July 01, 2026.
The sad news was shared on Shaunâs Facebook page by Michelle, his wife and the mother of their 13-year-old son, Maddux. The former guitarist for SOiL and Broken Hope, among many other bands, suffered a stroke at his Illinois home a month ago. He was most recenlty a member of the band Repentance.
Shaun was a longtime supporter of Stream Nâ Destroy. We regularly shared silly videos, jokes about a few bad records, and, of course, our big love of Metallica.
The outpouring of love from our community has been awe-inspiring. Michelleâs Facebook post has well over 500 comments, including from many of you.
David Draiman, Dino Cazares, Forbidden, Gary Holt, Jamey Jasta, Mark Lewis, Matt Heafy, Mike Gitter, Mille Petrozza, Robb Rivera, Scott Ian, SOiL, Vaughn Lewis, and Voivod are among the folks whoâve posted or commented about Shaun. I was particularly moved by the tributes from Robb Flynn and Monte Conner. Both are reprinted below, with their kind permission.
Monte Conner
Itâs still hard to believe Shaun Glass is gone. He was only 57. There was no one who loved metal more than Shaun. I called him the âMayor of Metalâ because there really was no other way to sum up his enormous role in the metal world. He knew everyone in the metal scene, from the bands to the fans to the record label execs â and was equally loved by all!
I first met him at the World War III Festival in Montreal in November 1985, but it was ten years later that we became close friends. Like most, Shaun loved his gossip. So much so that Dino Cazares affectionately nicknamed him âBlabberglass.â That said, he was a confidant of mine for close to 30 years. He knew what bands I was looking at and who I was going to sign. I would often share demos with him or seek his opinion on production, mixing, and mastering because he had great ears and was a metal authority. I trusted him with all kinds of insider info and music, even back in the days when a leak could be a devastating blow to an album, and he never once betrayed me.
The âGlass car testâ became the be-all end-all, the gold standard, the final word. If an album mix or a mastering job I shared with him passed the Glass car test, I knew I was in great shape. And he played a similar insider role for so many bands. Big bands too, like Fear Factory, Machine Head, Trivium, and Arch Enemy, to name just a few. Bands loved to get Shaunâs opinion. They relied on it! They welcomed him into their inner circle.
If you think I am exaggerating, I got this message from Michael Amott late last week, when we got the devastating news that things had taken a turn for the worse: âFor us itâs a friendship from â89 onwards, a lot of metal memories. And a serious question: Whoâs gonna approve my mixes now?â
While Shaun never made it big as a musician (first as a bassist and then as a guitarist), he never gave up. Metal was in his blood, and he was always writing and recording. He left many killer metal demos and albums behind by Terminal Death, Sindrome, Broken Hope, Soil, Dirge Within, The Bloodline, and Repentance. Plus, he left behind a stone-cold metal classic for the ages with the Soil track âHalo.â The sonics on that track are killer. Yes, it was mixed by genius mixer Kevin Shirley, but it was Shaunâs input and direction and him riding Kevin that put the mix over the top. Most musicians spend their entire careers without ever being part of a song that has the kind of impact âHaloâ did. And âBreaking Me Downâ is a sick track too (the kick drum tones on this song alone are a thing to marvel at). I am so happy he was able to tick that box and leave a big song behind.
Of course I had first dibs on Soil, but I could never ever consider signing them, as I didnât want business to ever get in the way of my friendship with Shaun. He understood. Instead, I referred him to another A&R guy at Roadrunner â the guy who signed Nickelback â who was very interested, but it quickly became a full-blown bidding war, and he, along with everyone else, was outbid by James Diener at J Records. Jâs founder and president had to give the green light on the deal â the one and only Clive Davis.
Shaun was also a loving family man and is survived by his wife Michelle and their son Maddux. Shaun was totally devoted to Maddux and was a true role model in how to be a loving, engaged, and attentive dad. Maddux was his life, and vice versa. Maddux is a great kid â super smart, inquisitive, and easily Shaunâs greatest achievement.
Shaun spent his final days surrounded by many of his closest friends and band members (past and present) and getting FaceTime calls from dozens of others who couldnât be there. Shaun knew how loved he was. We all saw to that.
This photo was taken at Lombardiâs Pizza when Shaun, Michelle, and Maddux visited NYC on vacation back in June 2024. It is actually the only photo I have of us. It is also a rare photo when I am trying and failing to look âmetal.â Because you couldnât not be metal around Shaun! He brought it out of you.
What a giant loss for the metal world. I canât believe I am even writing this post. I am not the least bit surprised by the incredible outpouring of love for Shaun in the last 24 hours. Itâs exactly what I expected because on the stage of life, Shaun was a hugely successful rock star. As big as they come. Truly the Mayor of Metal!
Robb Flynn
My world lost a legend today.
A lot of people reading this wonât know who Shaun Glass was, but to everyone who did, Shaun was a fucking legend. A star who burned so goddamn bright, it was impossible not to love him.
Iâm honestly just shocked and numb that Iâm writing these words.
I met Shaun when I was 19 years old. He was standing outside The Stone in San Francisco on Broadway waiting to get into a thrash show. Heâd flown out just to be there. I canât even remember which show it was anymore - itâs possible it was my old band Vio-Lence - but from that day on he became a constant in my life. Always at the Chicago and Milwaukee shows, always down for the hang
For decades there wasnât a week that went by without an email, text, or phone call from him. A new band I needed to hear. Industry gossip. Pictures of him proudly wearing Machine Head or Killers & Kings merch. Riffs heâd written. Songs heâd just finished. Photos of him on vacation with his son Maddux, who he absolutely adored.
The dude lived and fucking breathed metal, punk, hardcore and hard rock. Since our birthdays were only two weeks apart, we shared the same love for â80s and â90s thrash.
My nickname for him was âGlassholeâ, which was a nickname Borivoj gave him that was so goddamned funny it stuck. Shaun never got bent out of shape about it - in fact, I think he secretly liked it!
Dude was a LIFER. He never stopped creating. New songs. New bands. New records. No matter what life threw at him, he just made music.
He was hilarious. One of the biggest ball-busters Iâve ever known. And underneath all of that, one of the sweetest human beings Iâve ever had the privilege of calling my friend.
Like any friendship that lasts nearly 40 years, we had a wobble somewhere in the middle. I honestly canât even remember what I was upset about anymore. Something involving some demos 12 years ago. Shaun was the one who reached out to smooth it out. He was the bigger man. Iâm grateful he did, because in the last decade we grew closer than weâd ever been.
When youâre young, you think you have all the time in the world to repair relationships. The older you get, you realize time can take that opportunity away in the blink of an eye.
I found out from Dino that Shaun had suffered a stroke on the first day of our U.S. tour in Pittsburgh. The fact that four weeks later Iâm sitting here writing a tribute to him makes me physically sick with grief.
You were truly one in a million.
Iâm going to miss you terribly, brother.
My deepest condolences to Michelle, Maddux, his Repentance bandmates, his family, and the countless friends whose lives were made better by knowing him.
Love you forever, Shaun.
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Read the LOUDWIRE and Blabbermouth reports.
R.I.P.