John Pike, drummer with up and coming US band Ra Ra Riot, died in a drowning incident over the weekend. The musician first went missing in the early hours of Saturday morning after leaving a party in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, following a gig in Providence, Rhode Island. A search ensued and Pike's mobile phone was found in shallow water about half a mile from the location of the party. The drummer's body was subsequently discovered about 200 yards away, in Buzzard's Bay.
The band were currently on tour in the US. One date has been cancelled, but it's not clear if further dates will be postponed as a result of the tragedy, or if it will affect the upcoming, previously reported re-release of their eponymous debut EP.
A post on the band's website reads as follows: "We are all in a state of shock. Time has been dragging on slowly since the early hours of Saturday morning. This has been a difficult time filled with numbing sadness and many unanswered questions. We all have tremendous love for our friend, and we have an endless supply of wonderful memories of him. This has felt like the unraveling plot of a tragic piece of fiction... nothing would have prepared us for such an immense loss. We are deeply saddened by this, and we know that John was loved, admired, and respected by everybody who was fortunate enough to have met him. We are grateful to his parents for raising such a wonderful person. We are lucky to have known him, and he has had a profound effect on us as people, friends and musicians. We will miss him".