We sadly learned of the the death of Children of Bodom guitarist and vocalist Alexi Laiho this week. Tributes across the rock and metal world have been pouring in, now including the praise of Dragonforce guitarist Herman Li.
Li paid tribute to Laiho on his Twitch channel, saying Laiho was simply a levelk above everyone else in terms of his playing and ability to front the band,
"He was awesome. He was really good. I think a lot of us in the scene all looked at Alexi Laiho and thought, 'Man, this guy is so good.' Not only was he playing really good… There are a lot of great guitar players out there, but a lot of them cannot sing — cannot sing and play at the same time," said Li. "And he was able to do both, and party like a rock star. That's one thing — a lot of us can play guitar, but we're terrible singers.
"Talk about being a frontman of the band. That's a whole different level than just being a great guitar player. He had a great stage presence. He was the frontman of the band — a great vocalist, singer for what he was doing — and he was exciting to watch on stage. And they had great songs. It's different when you can play the guitar and sing; you're a bit cooler. So he was another level up, because most of us can't sing."
No cause of death has yet been revealed, but according to a press release Laiho died in his home in Helsinki, Finland, last week and suffered from long-term health issues during his last years. Laiho was 41 years old.
