Midnight (born John Patrick Jr. McDonald, April 29, 1962 – July 8, 2009) was an American musician best known for being the vocalist of
Crimson Glory.
The band became known for Midnight's "ear-shattering screams", which drew comparisons to
Geoff Tate
Geoff Tate (born Jeffrey Wayne Tate, January 14, 1959; he later changed his first name to Geoffery or Geoffrey) (Pp. 11, 48). is an American singer and songwriter. He rose to fame with the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, who had commercial ...
,
and "painfully strident delivery."
Career
Midnight joined
Crimson Glory in the early 1980s. In 1986,
their debut album was issued by PAR Records and picked up internationally by
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...
. It took the newcomers only a couple of years to surpass their debut with their sophomore effort, 1988's ''
Transcendence'', a joint release on MCA/Roadrunner. In 1991 they signed to Atlantic Records and released ''
Strange & Beautiful'', an album which showed a commercial switch in the band's sound. Not long after the latest release, Midnight left the band and the other members dispersed and became involved with various other acts.
For roughly seven years, Midnight remained out of sight. In the late 1990s, Midnight spent months recording a six-song full-band recording to try to secure a new record deal and some press. Unfortunately, when he left Florida and went to Texas he lost the only original master tape. To recover from this huge setback, Midnight reappeared with a low-budget EP originally titled ''Songs from the Attic'' which was later re-released simply as ''M''; produced by Tim Fredenburg and featuring Bobby Kovacs on guitar, it explored a more acoustic direction. Only 500 copies were made. Once again, Midnight vanished, until in late 2004 it was announced that he had joined forces with Black Lotus Records to release his full-length debut solo album, ''
Sakada''.
After the release of ''Sakada'', Midnight did a short press tour in Europe which also included several acoustic performances. In 2007, Midnight joined forces with a new group of musicians including Matt LaPorte who also played with the ex-
Savatage
Savatage () is an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album '' Sirens'' (1983), they changed t ...
frontman's band
Jon Oliva's Pain, and Lee Harrison, the drummer and founder of the
death metal
Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...
band
Monstrosity who also previously toured with
Obituary
An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...
and is currently with
Terrorizer, as well. Together they recorded, in addition to the ''All Souls Midnight'' disc, material for a 20-song covers disc simply titled ''Covers'', a 36 song 3-CD set of original songs titled ''M2 – Descending into Madness'', and a 24-clip DVD documenting the final recordings called ''A Strange Tea Party'', all of which remains unreleased. Other musicians involved in these recordings were Phil Anderson (who produced and played on Sakada), John Zahner (Crimson Glory, Jon Oliva's Pain), Zane Black (Kozmic Lords), Chris Tripp (Tripp3), Ronnie Dee (Greg Billings), and Jerry Outlaw (
Genitorturers
The Genitorturers are an American industrial metal band with influences extending into the 1990s hardcore punk and electronic music. They proclaim themselves to be "The World's Sexiest Rock Band".
History
Originating in Orlando, Florida, the ...
, Jon Oliva's Pain).
Midnight joined forces with
Jon Oliva
John Nicholas "Jon" Oliva (born July 22, 1959) is an American singer and musician. He is best known as the co-founder, keyboardist and lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage, which he co-founded with his younger brother Criss Oliva. Si ...
in 2008 to re-record "Painted Skies" from ''Transcendence''.
Death and later developments
On July 8, 2009, Midnight died of a stomach
aneurysm
An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...
at the age of 47 in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
, Florida, U.S.
In memory of their fallen bandmate, the rest of Crimson Glory played a tribute show, headlining 2009's ProgPower.
The show featured several guest vocalists, including
Todd La Torre
Todd La Torre (; born February 19, 1974) is an American singer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the lead singer for progressive metal band Queensrÿche, and a former lead vocalist of the bands Crimson Glory and Rising West. Originally from St. Pe ...
, who eventually joined the band as their new lead singer.
Discography
with Crimson Glory
*''
Crimson Glory'' (1986)
*''
Transcendence'' (1988)
*''
Strange and Beautiful'' (1991)
Solo albums
*''The Lost Tape'' (1998) unreleased
*''Songs from the Attic'' (2000)
*''M'' (2001)
*''
Sakada'' (2005)
*''All Souls Midnight'' (2008), 100 copies on CD-R only
*''Covers'' (2009) unreleased
*''A Strange Tea Party'' DVD (2009) unreleased
*''
M2: Descending into Madness'' (2014)
*''Through Oceans of Space'' (2021) released in 2023
Guest appearances
*''Genius: A Rock Opera'' (2002): Maindream character
*Ben Jackson Group - ''All Over You'' (2005): guest vocals on "Rock n' Roll Heaven (Or Bust)"
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Midnight
1962 births
2009 deaths
American heavy metal singers
Crimson Glory members
Progressive metal musicians
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers