Lou Koller, the singer with New York hardcore veterans Sick Of It All, has died at the age of 59.
The band announced the news via a statement on social media, saying: “It’s with unbelievable sadness that we announce to our worldwide hardcore family the passing of our brother Lou Koller. The level of loss that we feel at this time is overwhelming.
“This year would have marked Sick Of It All’s 40th anniversary as a band, and Lou’s camaraderie, commitment and enthusiasm were always steadfast throughout the years.
“We have lost a beloved friend and an iconic frontman. Lou had the power to raise everyone’s spirits at our shows with a smile and a sarcastic comment, and he won people over wherever we played, from every culture and every corner of the world.”
Koller, who formed Sick Of It All with his guitarist brother Pete in 1986, revealed in 2024 that doctors had found a tumour in his oesophagus, forcing the band to cancel a tour. Following his original announcement, more than $200,000 was donated to a GoFundMe campaign for his treatment.
The singer was told his was cancer free in May 2025, but revealed the following September that the disease had returned.
Lou and Pete Koller formed Sick Of It All in Queens in 1986. releasing a self-titled seven-inch single the following year and becoming regulars at New York club CBGB.
The band released two albums, 1989’s Blood, Sweat And No Tears and 1992‘s Just Look Around, on the independent label Relatively before being signed to major label EastWest for 1994’s breakthrough Scratch The Surface.
SOIA released 12 albums in total, with the most recent being 2018’s Wake The Sleeping Dragon!.
Paying tribute to Koller in their statement, the band said: “His battle is over now and he can finally rest. Hopefully he can somehow still see and feel the beautiful, positive mark he left on the world.”
(LouderSound)
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