MANILLA ROAD's MARK 'THE SHARK' SHELTON Dead At 60
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Mark "The Shark" Shelton, a founding member of the legendary epic metal band MANILLA ROAD, has died at the age of 60. No cause of death has yet been revealed. His passing was confirmed in a Facebook post by the band's lead singer, Bryan Patrick.
"I'm very sorry to announce today that my longtime brother and best friend since 1981 has passed through the Halls Of Valhalla," Patrick wrote. "Mark W. Shelton, may you rest in peace!
"There will be more information within the next couple of days. There will be a GoFundMe page set up in order to get Mark back home to his family.
"My heart is shattered. Please take time today to love your loved ones and hold them close."
The surviving members of MANILLA ROAD have since released the following statement regarding the passing of Mark "The Shark" Shelton:
"It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the passing of Mark 'The Shark' Shelton, founder and guitarist of MANILLA ROAD.
"We are asking for help from our worldwide group of brothers and sisters to bring Mark's body back to his family in Wichita, Kansas in the USA and to pay his hospital expenses which must be done before we can bring him home.
"Mark died in Germany following the Headbangers Open Air festival. The cost of bringing him home and his hospital bills are more than the band or his family has ready. Please donate to help Mark's family, any amount will help. Any funds raised beyond our goal will be given directly to his family to help with the additional expenses which will arise from Mark's death.
"Thank you for your generosity and may the lords of light be with you!"
MANILLA ROAD played a show in Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany on July 26 and was scheduled to play in Retorbido, Italy on July 28. The band was also confirmed to appear at this year's edition of the Wacken Open Air festival in early August.
Shelton was the only remaining original member of MANILLA ROAD, which was launched more than four decades ago in the most un-metal of places: Wichita, Kansas.
"MANILLA ROAD formed in 1977 and we did our first show in Wichita Kansas that year," Shelton said. "The very first gig that we played was at a house for a private party. Then we started playing the club scene around Wichita and before we knew it, MANILLA ROAD was creating a bit of a stir in the local music scene. We were just about the only hard rock or metal band around that was writing and performing all original material. Actually, back then we did a couple of Jimi Hendrix songs (our own way, of course), but other than those songs, we never really did cover tunes."
Asked how important Kansas has been to his music, Shelton told Decibel magazine: "Well, I think it is pretty important to me as far as being isolated from the rest of the music market. I sort of tread my own path out here in the middle of nowhere, especially back in the days before the Internet — trends and fads in the music industry were really slow to get to us out here. The only outside source we had for knowing what was popular in the States or in Europe was the radio. It seemed we only found out what was trending a year or so later; I swear, when I was growing up here in Kansas the hippie movement held on forever here while everyone else in the world had moved on."
MANILLA ROAD's 18th full-length studio album, "To Kill A King", was released in June 2017 through Golden Core Records.
"I never felt like I was too old to metal," Shelton told The Portland Mercury in a 2015 interview. "I'll be doing this till I die."
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
