Charlie Colin, Founding Member of Train, Dead at 58
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Charlie Colin, the founding bassist of pop-rock band Train, has died. He was 58 years old.
According to TMZ, who spoke to the musician’s mother, the California-bred artist died after slipping and falling in the shower while house-sitting for a friend in Brussels, Belgium. His mother said it’s unclear when Colin passed away, as his body was found only after his friends returned from their trip approximately five days ago. Colin’s sister also confirmed his death to Variety.
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His mom also told TMZ that the musician had moved to Brussels to teach a music masterclass at a conservatory, and was working on new music for a film at the time of his death. Colin had been documenting his time abroad on Instagram, where he declared that the locale was his “officially [his] favorite city” in a March post.
Colin helped form Train with lead singer Pat Monahan, Rob Hotchkiss, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood in the ’90s. Before leaving the group due to substance abuse issues in 2003, he took part in recording hits such as “Drops of Jupiter” — which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the band its first Grammy for best rock song — and “Meet Virginia.” The band performed “Drops of Jupiter” on the Grammy telecast in 2002. That smash also received nominations for record and song of the year and best rock performance by a duo or a group. Two years later, Colin and the band received two more Grammy nods — best rock song and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal — for their hit “Calling All Angels.” Train’s self-titled debut album reached No. 76 on the Billboard 200 in 1999.
“When I met Charlie Colin, front left, I fell in love with him,” the band said in a statement on Instagram Wednesday (May 22), sharing an old photo of Train’s original lineup wearing T-shirts that read “Billboard #1.” “He was THE sweetest guy and what a handsome chap … I’ll always have a warm place for him in my heart. I always tried to pull him closer but he had a vision of his own. You’re a legend, Charlie. Go charm the pants off those angels.”
In 2015, Colin, Hotchkiss and Underwood formed the band Painbirds with Tom Luce.
Raised in Newport Beach, Colin first met Hotchkiss in middle school. The two later went to Boston’s Berklee College of Music at separate times before reconnecting when the latter formed the band the Apostles.
After the Apostles disbanded, Hotchkiss met Monahan and began collaborating on songs in the Bay Area. They later invited Stafford and Colin to join their lineup, after which Colin brought in Underwood to play drums — and Train was born.
“Charlie called me up and said, ‘It’s been this weird synchronicity where we’re not even willing to consider quitting,’” Hotchkiss recalled of his friend in a 2015 interview with The Los Angeles Times. “First and foremost, our priority is writing songs, and we really enjoy playing live.”
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