Bo Lueders, guitarist and co-founder of the Chicago-based hardcore metal band Harm's Way, has died, his bandmates announced “heartbroken and heavy-hearted” Thursday on social media. He was 38 years old.
Lueders “will be remembered for his unwavering empathy and compassion for his friends and family and his magnetic, inimitable presence on and off stage,” Harm's Way wrote on Instagram, asking for “grace and privacy” during a difficult time.
No cause of death was given, but the band offered the 988 crisis and suicide lifeline to anyone “struggling with depression or the urge to self-harm.”
Born Bohan Daniel Lueders in November 1987, the musician co-founded Harm's Way in 2006 as a side project of punk band Few and the Proud. They became a full-time band that has released five studio albums and five EPs in the years since, with songs including “Human Carrying Capacity,” “Become a Machine,” and “Call My Name.”
In a biography posted by the band on Spotify, Lueders attempted to describe the music on Harm's Way's 2018 album, “Posthuman,” which was followed by their fifth album, “Common Suffering,” in 2023.
“For a Harm's Way fan, I would describe 'Posthuman' as a mix of 'Isolation' (2011) and 'Rust' (2015), but sonically it's much crazier,” he said. “To anyone else I would just say it's total assault.”
Lueders started the “HardLore” podcast in 2022 with Twitching Tongues frontman Colin Young to chronicle life on the road in the hardcore/punk/metal scene. A new episode was released on Wednesday, the second part of a two-part interview with Madball singer Freddie Crician.
But on March 19, before the two-part show ended, Young and Lueders released an episode of “HardLore” that broke with the format and instead answered listener questions for an hour and a half. A listener asked the presenters what piece of music they wanted to hear for the last time before they died. Young chose “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. His friend chose another track that was clearly non-metallic and non-punk.
“Mine would probably be some Björk song, whether it's 'Unravel' or 'Aurora'. I just want to drift and go in peace,” Lueders said, rubbing both eyes before making a drifting gesture with both hands.
“I think 'Unravel' is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.”
Young launched a GoFundMe campaign Friday on behalf of “Lueders' mother Wendy and girlfriend Taylor to help cover the costs of memorial services and afterlife in Chicago.” The campaign had reached almost $140,000 by midday.
