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Train bassist Charlie Colin has died. He was 58.
According to reports in TMZ, he died in a tragic accident after slipping and falling in the shower while house-sitting for a friend in Brussels, Belgium.
The musician’s mother reportedly told the publication he was discovered when his friends returned home from their trip about five days ago. Colin had been teaching music at a conservatory in the Belgian capital, as well as working at a studio and making music for a film.
The Independent has reached out to his representatives for confirmation.
Colin grew up in Virginia before moving with his family to Newport Beach in southern California. He attended the University of Southern California and continued his education at the Berklee College of Music.
After graduating he lived and worked in Singapore, composing jingles, before moving to San Francisco and forming a band called the Apostles. The band also included future Train guitarist Jimmy Stafford, and fellow Berklee College of Music alumnus Rob Hotchkiss. Train formed after the addition of singer Pat Monahan.
The band went on to enjoy significant success in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with their self-titled debut album spawning the hit “Meet Virginia” in 1998.
Their follow-up album, 2001’s Drops of Jupiter, brought even greater international acclaim. Lead single “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” spent 54 weeks on the Hot 100 chart and won the Grammy for Best Rock Song.
The band continued to have success throughout the rest of the decade, notably with the 6x platinum 2009 single “Hey Soul Sister”, but by then Colin had left the band. He quit Train in 2003 due to issues with substance abuse.
In a 2017 interview with NBC News, Monahan said: “Charlie is one incredible bass player, but he was in a lot of pain, and the way he was dealing with it was very painful for everyone else around him.”
In 2022, Colin reflected on his varied career in an interview with motivational speaker Dan Clark.
“When I left Train, I went out because my ego and my identity were all at stake and I was thinking about that too much,” said Colin. “I went out and played with all these hard rock bands. I went on a tour with Slipknot. You can imagine the guys wearing masks and stuff. These are the hardest rock bands in the world.
“Their guitarist, Jim Root, broke his wrist skateboarding in Iowa. They just did a record and they were going to make a double live album, so I got to replace him because I was friends with those guys. That’s more like a multimedia art installation or concept art show because there are nine guys and there’s all this stuff going on. I found a way to appreciate that.”
