Nick Menza, Former Megadeth Drummer Dies After Collapsing on Stage

Nick Menza, the former drummer for the influential heavy metal band Megadeth, died at the age of 51 after collapsing on-stage while performing his progressive jazz trio at the Baked Potato in Studio City in Los Angeles, said a family spokesman.

Menza was performing the third song with his current band, OHM, when the drummer suddenly collapsed. The members of the band, friends and the audience helped to resuscitate Menza while waiting for the medics to arrive.

“Despite his excellent health and extremely active, sober lifestyle, a heart attack is his suspected, though not confirmed, cause of death,” said J. Marshall Craig, according to Huffington Post, adding that an autopsy will be performed.

Reports reveal that the drummer might have suffered a massive heart attack.

Megadeth co-founder Dave Mustaine asked Menza to join the band in 1989 after he played live with the group in Bradford, England in 1988. He is the longest-serving drummer of the band from 1989 to 1998, during the time when the band was as its peak of fame. He was with the band for the albums Rust in Peace, Youthanasia, Countdown to Extinction and Cryptic Writings.

After leaving the band in 1998, Menza became an accomplished woodworker and he also pursued his interest in jazz.

When Mustaine heard about the news when he woke up at 4 in the morning, he expressed his sadness on Twitter saying, "Tell me this isn't true."

Meanwhile, Marty Friedman, Megadeth's guitarist from 1990 to 2000, wrote on Facebook about Menza that he is "a great and unique drummer" and "a trustworthy friend, a hilarious band mate, as well as a very loving dad," LA Times reported.

An autobiography of the drummer which is co-written by Craig, which will cover his life in and out of the music industry, will be released on July.