On Jan. 4, the extreme metal community suffered a crushing blow when news broke that Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho had died the previous month. After diving back into Bodom’s catalog for two weeks, I was able to reflect on Laiho’s legacy as a once-in-a-generation guitar hero, a world-class showman and an inspiration to countless metal fans.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Children of Bodom.
It was a gray, bitter February evening in 2008. My best friend at the time was sleeping over, and he had brought a copy of the Finnish quintet’s most recent live album/DVD,
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Extreme metal fans worldwide were shocked and saddened by the death of Children of Bodom s Alexi Laiho when the unfortunate news emerged earlier this week. Now, the musician s widow, Kelli Wright-Laiho, has issued a note of thanks to fans for their condolences.
Laiho was only 41 years old when he died, but no official cause of death has so far been made public. However, the songwriter, guitarist and vocalist battled numerous long-term health issues late in his life.
Wright-Laiho was the musician s spouse for the past three years. As recently as December 2020, she shared photos of her and Laiho embracing and celebrating the holidays. On Tuesday (Jan. 5), however, she posted an image of a black square. Its caption contained a message for Children of Bodom fans.