According to TMZ, Paul O’Neill, creator of the multi-platinum rock theater experience TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, died of intoxication from a mix of prescription drugs: methadone, codeine, diazepam (generic Valium) and doxylamine (an antihistamine).
TMZ obtained a copy of O’Neill‘s autopsy report, and it also mentions other ailments he was battling, such as mild heart disease, hypertension and moderate hardening of the arteries. The medical examiner determined the death to be accidental.
Earlier today, Paul‘s family released a statement saying that “the Hillsborough, Florida medical examiner’s office has determined the official cause of Paul O’Neill‘s death as accidental, resulting from an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications to treat his numerous chronic illnesses (including bone augmentation surgery, complications from spinal fusion surgery, heart disease, and hypertension).”
When O’Neill died in April at the age of 61, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA released a statement saying he had “passed away from chronic illness.”
TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA formed in 1996 out of the ashes of the Florida power metal band SAVATAGE and started touring three years later, connecting with fans by releasing a series of rock operas, such as 1996’s “Christmas Eve And Other Stories”, 1998’s “The Christmas Attic” and 2004’s “The Lost Christmas Eve”. Over the past 20 years, it has become a critically acclaimed, multi-platinum, musical powerhouse. The progressive rock group’s record-setting “rock theater” tours sell out venues year after year and they have cemented their status as a must attend, multi-generational, holiday tradition.
2016 was another record-breaking year for TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA (TSO). Proving that it is more popular on the road than ever before, TSO‘s winter tour 2016 sold the most tickets per show in the group’s history, with a total in excess of 927,000. The tour also set a record gross for TSO with a total of more than $56.9 million.
20 years since the band’s first album, and since its historic touring debut, TSO has played in excess of 1,800 shows for more than 14 million fans, with tour grosses of over $625 million, and sold in excess of 12 million albums and DVDs. In 2009, Billboard magazine placed TSO at #25 on its “Top Touring Artists Of The Decade.”
