The Tragedy Of Falling In Reverse Explained
Whether it's rock, rap, metal, or pop, Falling in Reverse knows how to traverse different musical landscapes to create an inimitable sound. Ronnie Radke's sonic brainchild experienced a meteoric rise to fame since forming in 2008 and releasing the debut record "The Drug in Me Is You" in 2011. However, this doesn't erase the fact the group faced many obstacles and challenges in their own personal lives on their climb to the top of the music charts and the biggest concert stages.
In terms of Radke, he opened up about how his mother's absence in his childhood deeply impacted him. He also experienced heartbreaking loss in the form of the death of his brother Anthony, who passed away at the young age of 33. Guitarist Derek Jones lost his fiancée, then died not too long after her, capping off a tumultuous and tragic period of time for Falling in Reverse.
Whether Falling in Reverse joins the elite list of the most influential rock bands of all time remains to be seen. There's no disputing, though, that they have gone through the emotional wringer — both in the music world and their own lives — in their journey to leave a lasting legacy.
Ronnie Radke's mother was absent in his childhood
Falling in Reverse's lead singer, Ronnie Radke, proves to be a divisive figure in the music industry, and in 2014, Radke sat down with Rock Sound to discuss his life and past. His time in prison and other controversies were brought up, while he peeled back the curtain to chat more about his childhood and mentioned his mother, who has been a topic in Falling in Reverse's songs.
Radke said one of the reasons he became a womanizer was because he "never had a mother." The musician added how his views toward women changed when he entered a stable relationship and became a father. "When I first saw my daughter it was a real eye-opener, particularly in terms of trying to understand how my mother could have left me and pushed me away," he said. "I will do whatever it takes in order to be there." Radke also addressed rumors that he misuses drugs, declaring that it was his mother who did so — not him.
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Ronnie Radke lost his brother to an accident
In August 2013, Ronnie Radke's older brother Anthony died. He was only 33 years old, and was a carpenter and motorcyclist who belonged to the Nemesis Motorcycle Club. He was married to a woman named Amanda and had five children.
Posting about his brother on now-deleted Instagram posts (via Music Junkie Press), Radke alluded to the cause of death being a vehicular accident. He mentioned how Anthony and their father were his "only family" and that Antony was gone now. Radke shared a bunch of older pictures of him and his brother, praising him as his big brother who looked after him and how he wanted to be exactly like Anthony. "I followed him everywhere and copied everything he did," Radke wrote. "I am so heartbroken. It doesn't even seem real."
In addition to this, Radke shared the song "The Day I Left the Womb" — which he wrote for his previous band Escape the Fate and appears on their 2006 album "Dying Is Your Latest Fashion" — explaining how it was written for his brother and feels poignant now.
Derek Jones' fiancée died
In a lot of bands, if a member experiences family issues, illness, or anything else that might cause them to miss shows, the group tends to push on with a stand-in replacement for the tour — except if it's the vocalist, for obvious reasons. In 2019, though, Falling in Reverse took the decision to cancel a tour after guitarist Derek Jones' fiancée Christina Cetta's cancer resulted in her having to be hospitalized after fluid was found in her lungs.
Ronnie Radke posted the following message on the band's X (formerly known as Twitter) account: "It does not seem right in my heart to tour knowing of her condition as Derek has to be with her to help her fight through this." In addition, the band shared details of a GoFundMe campaign to help Cetta.
On November 19, 2019, Cetta's family announced that she had died on her GoFundMe page, while thanking everyone for their support and contributions to her campaign. A few weeks afterward, Jones remembered his fiancée on his Instagram account, posting a picture of her on what would have been her 35th birthday and writing: "I miss you and I'll love you forever."
Falling in Reverse's guitarist died not too long after his fiancée
Throughout Falling in Reverse's history as a band, they have had several members come and go. One of the constants was guitarist Derek Jones, who had been with the group largely since its inception, which occurred while Ronnie Radke was incarcerated. Not only was he responsible for contributing music to the albums they had released up until 2020, but he was also Radke's friend.
Barely five months after the death of Jones' fiancée Christina Cetta, Radke broke the news on a now-deleted Instagram post (via Variety) that Jones had died too. He wrote: "I'll never forget when you picked me up from jail in your old tour van to start Falling in Reverse. Your spirit will be interwoven through the music I write forever. Rest in peace, Derek Jones. My heart is broken." Other artists, such as Ice Nine Kills, remembered Jones on social media — not only for his musical influence but also for the person he was to them.
The band's laptops disappeared on tour and they received backlash for not performing
In September 2022, 95 WIIL Rock posted a video on its Facebook page from Ronnie Radke, who had bad news for the fans: Falling in Reverse wouldn't be playing at WIIL Rock Fest. According to Radke, the band walked into their rehearsal and their laptops were gone. Vanished. He said that his crew claimed they were "lost," but regardless, they wouldn't be able to play the show since most of their on-stage show required what was on the laptops and "as a band in 2022, you need your laptops. It's like driving a car without an engine."
Not only did Falling in Reverse have to deal with the fact these expensive new laptops were gone, which is enough to irritate and inconvenience any human being, but they also had to contend with criticism from fans, peers, and industry professionals. These included Eddie Trunk and Sebastian Bach (who is also one of the stars who can't stand Nikki Sixx), who blasted the band for canceling shows just because of missing laptops. Radke didn't brush off the criticism either, lashing back and engaging in social media warfare. Ultimately, like most arguments in rock and metal, it turned into an argument about how people prefer to make music, i.e., a nothing-burger.
Falling in Reverse members suffered minor burns during a concert
Metallica's James Hetfield knows all about pyro explosions, as he's one of the rock stars who had an insane brush with death in the past and experienced severe burns. While Falling in Reverse's accident wasn't as severe as Hetfield's, it still proved to be cause for concern during the band's appearance at the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival in May 2024.
The group played their thumping track "Ronald" while literal fireworks went off in the background. However, vocalist Ronnie Radke recognized the danger and stopped the performance several times to check on his bandmates. While this inevitably helped to prevent further disaster, both guitarist Christian Thompson and drummer Luke Holland experienced minor burns from the incident.
Posting on X after the show, Holland shared several videos from the show and discussed the incident. The drummer wrote: "We had to stop the set a couple times because of the pyro. Yes I'm okay, powered through it, light burns on my left arm. Still crushed the show & all the fans were amazing for still going crazy for us."
Want to read all about another set of rockers who have shared the stage with Falling in Reverse? Check out the untold truth of Avenged Sevenfold.