The Maddigans bassist Thaddeus Lake passes away

Thaddeus Lake, bassist of Edmonton, Alberta-based pop-punk act the Maddigans, has died. He was just 22. According to a blog post from the band, Lake, who had recently left the band on good terms, was killed along with two friends in an auto accident:

“The last month has been an interesting one. As some of you may know Nov. 3rd was our last show with Thaddeus Lake as our bass player. After a lot of talk together we decided to part ways on sad but good terms. The band has been aiming to move to Ontario late spring 2012 and after a lot of thought Thad wasn’t able to commit to the move. Since then we have recruited a new friend and great addition to the band Robbie Sherriff (Prom Night) on bass. We’ve been waiting on Thad’s statement about the lineup change to officially announce it. We were hoping to receive Thad’s letter within the next couple days instead we woke up with horrible news. Thaddeus was in a car with a few friends driving back home when the car got into a fatal accident. All 3 men were killed instantly.

There’s no easy way to put this and there is no way to describe the pain this accident has caused to so many people. As a lot of you have experienced; Thad was a very loyal, caring, positive and genuine guy. He was passionate about so many things including, friendship, love, family, performing, partying and simply making the most of life. It was hard to see him leave as a musical companion and will be even harder to grasp his absence as a best friend. He is a leader and inspiration to all of us.”

Altpress.com sends its deepest condolences to Lake's family, friends and fans.