Martin Ain, the legendary bassist of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, has passed away at the age of 50. Ain's death has been confirmed to 20 Minuten by his friend Jan Graber, who says Ain was switching between trams when he collapsed.
"He suddenly collapsed when he switched to a different tram," says his close friend Jan Graber to 20 minutes, Ain, who was born in the USA, was only 50 years old.
Graber did not know of any serious health problems. "He was somewhat overweight, clearly." Ain's death is, however, fundamentally completely surprising for Graber.
Ain's Celtic Frost bandmate Tom Gabriel Fisher also had the following to say via Facebook regarding Ain's death.
I am deeply affected by his passing. Our relationship was very complex and definitely not free of conflicts, but Martin's life and mine were very closely intertwined, since we first met in 1982.
We wish Ain's family and friends all the best at this time.
Martin Ain’s passing tops largest Swiss newspaper. Says he suffered heart attack in a Zurich train station. “Metal Legend” to say the least. pic.twitter.com/FfugVTUqvS
— Ian Christe (@ianchriste) October 22, 2017
One of the early purveyors of extreme musical darkness in Metal has left us. RIP Martin Eric Ain. #martinericain #celticfrost #hellhammer pic.twitter.com/mh2WlIioId
— ??????? ????? (@Michael_Amott) October 22, 2017
I am very sad to wake to the news about Martin Ain, one of the nicest , intelligent and creative people I’ve ever known. #celticfrost ??
— Charlie Benante (@skisum) October 22, 2017
[youtube]https://youtu.be/JhVNLa5ihMo[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW6RXTjm4iA[/youtube]