Crowded House drummer dead

March 28, 2005 - 6:59AM



Paul Hester ... reinvented himself after leaving Crowded House.


Crowded House drummer Paul Hester has been found dead in a park in Melbourne.



Hester, 46, the father of two young girls, failed to return home from walking his two dogs on Saturday night.


Police, who reportedly found his body yesterday in Elsternwick Park near his home, said there were no suspicious circumstances.


Friends were reported in The Daily Telegraph as saying they were not aware of Hester having been depressed. But ABC Radio reported that he had taken his own life.


Hester quit Crowded House in 1994 but had reinvented himself as a drummer for hire, cafe owner and charismatic frontman of Music Max Sessions on Foxtel. He had also played drums in Split Enz from 1983 to 1984.


He lived in Elwood - a fashionable bayside suburb of Melbourne - with his girlfriend Mardi Sommerfeld and their two daughters aged eight and ten.


AAP

Awww, man. I was just thinking about getting their first album too. I've been bumping Split enz a lot lately too. Paul was a great drummer.

RIP nam-myoho=renge-kyo.

He was the nicest and funniest guy there was.

There are reports here that he had hung himself.

NWF said:

Crowded House's debut album is excellent; definitely in my top 40 CDs.

What a shame about the drummer.

althom said:

Did you get know him or get to meet him?

Chico319 said:

I meet him just the once when I got to photograph Crowded House live at a gig. He was the one that really held that group together. You just got the feeling that if he wasn't there.....then they wouldn't be all together.

althom said:

THE NICEST GUY EVER

how horrible, i always have loved Crowded House. Their 2nd Album Temple of Low Men is one of my favorites. ugh!!

Sad news.

I'm going to listen to some sad CH stuffs now.. like Hole In The River

I've read that Sheryl Crow wrote a song about Paul Hester when she was opening for CH back in the 80s.
*
[Edited 3/28/05 12:10pm]

That truely sucks. I was a big SPLIT ENZ fan. ONE STEP AHEAD, SIX MONTHS IN A LEAKY BOAT. RIP. Crowded House was incredible also.

I was just talking about CH yesterday. Very turbulent band....lots of in fighting. They were a great band...shame they only did 4 albums... All of them excellent.

Damnit, why do people keep taking their own lives?!?!?! It truly sucks. There is so much to live for.

R.I.P.

This is from todays Australian paper.

Star's last hours

By KATHY McCABE and NUI TE KOHA

March 29, 2005

DRAMATIC details of rock star Paul Hester's death, and his recent split with the woman he hoped to marry, were revealed last night.


Friends told how the Crowded House drummer had suffered turmoil in his love life, first the end of his romance with the mother of his two daughters and then parting with New Zealand singer Kashan, whom he had planned to wed in May.

But 46-year-old Hester gave no indication he was distressed about the break-ups when he took his two pet dogs for a walk on Friday night.


He was found dead on Saturday afternoon after he hanged himself from a tree in a popular suburban park.


Friends revealed that Hester's two-year relationship with Kashan had ended in December after they revealed plans to marry in October. He had also split from his long-time partner, Mardi Sommerfeld, the mother of his daughters, aged 8 and 10.


But friends said Hester had been coping well despite previously undergoing eight years of therapy. They discounted that a broken heart caused the dark spiral that ended in death.


Ambulance officers who were called to Melbourne's Elsternwick Park near his home on Saturday battled for 20 minutes to try to revive him.


The officers reported Hester had "attempted suicide" and suffered "strangulation", ambulance spokeswoman Liraje Memishi said. "They attempted resuscitation but he was dead when they arrived. There was nothing they could do."


They declared Hester dead at 1.20pm. There were no suspicious circumstances.


Speaking of his break-up with 33-year-old Kashan, a family member said: "It was an amicable split, but they stayed in contact and on very friendly terms.


"There was talk of marriage further down the track, but nothing was ever formalised. There was nothing sinister in the split. She didn't run off with somebody else. They remained friends.


"Now she is incredibly devastated by this tragedy and, like everybody else, is asking 'Why?' "


Ms Sommerfeld said yesterday: "We would like Paul to be remembered as the loving father he was, and for the way in which he celebrated life.


"The family is very shocked and saddened by the loss of Paul. He will be greatly missed by all who loved him."


Ms Sommerfeld's statement was co-signed by her daughters, and Hester's father Mike, mother Ann, and sister Carolyn.


Friends who spoke to Hester in the weeks before his death said he gave no hint he was struggling with another bout of depression.


General manager of cable music channel Max, Jacqui Riddell, said she had met Hester recently to run through the next round of Max Sessions, a series of intimate concerts featuring top-shelf music acts performing live.


He kicked off the 2005 season last week with the Jack Johnson concert in Centennial Park on March 18.


"He was normal Paul when I had lunch with him. He really loved doing them," Ms Riddell said.


"Paul's passion, wit and warmth have helped make the Max Sessions special.


"Paul leaves a body of work which demonstrates not only his talent, but his commitment to live music in this country. We will miss him dearly."


Another television colleague said Hester had been approached to film a pilot for a new lifestyle program because of the success of the Max Sessions.


"When I spoke to him last week, he was his usual self, joking about mobile phones and how he still didn't understand how to use them," said the colleague. "He loved doing the Sessions for the most part and mostly he was on fire. Some days not so much.


"The great thing about Paul in that role was you may not have known him but almost everyone in the audience would walk away feeling like they did.


"And his musical background enabled him to communicate with the musicians on a very special level."


Hester continued playing after leaving Crowded House in 1994, recording with many of his Melbourne mates.


He performed with former Crowded House members Neil and Tim Finn in November. The obvious joy of the brief reunion fuelled speculation among fans and industry stalwarts that Crowded House may re-form after nine years.


Fans from Australia, the US and Europe rallied online to send their condolences to Hester's family and friends.

really sad. seemed like such a nice guy.

althom said:

Althom, that's what I had read that he had commited suicide near his home in Australia.
[Edited 3/28/05 16:12pm]

jn2 said:

This is so PROPHETIC. Kind of like Aaliyah's last video when she's in the water and it looks like she's floating up to heaven.

jn2 said:

That reminds me, I've gotta get this album.

NWF said:

It's a great album.

RIP, Paul