In his home country, this foreign-born musician was idolized by millions. Everyone there knows him. He belonged to what is quite possibly the biggest rock band to have ever existed where he’s from. His death sent shockwaves through his country. He was not so loved in Los Angeles, however - they saw a different side of him.
He had two personalities, quite literally. One was a generous and outgoing man who got unknown musicians heard, signed artists to his label who got turned down by everyone else, and volunteered his time with sick fans in hospitals, even writing songs for them. This personality lived primarily in his home country.
Los Angeles was the playground for his dark side. As big as he was back home, he was nobody in America and could get away with a lot. This personality was an alcoholic, violent, occult-obsessed, abusive monster who left an untold number of scarred and battered women in his wake. He joined a local band, and the one album they produced serves as a window into this dark flip side.
He traveled back and forth as much as he did because this dark side would have ruined his career back home, where it had already gotten him banned from hundreds of bars, clubs, and hotels. His final solo song back home was a veiled confession as to his dual nature.
