LeRoi Moore - Death

Death

Moore was injured on June 30, 2008, in an all-terrain vehicle accident on his farm outside Charlottesville, Virginia, breaking several ribs and puncturing a lung, and was hospitalized at UVA for several days. Moore was riding the ATV to another part of his farm to check a fence when the vehicle hit a grass-covered ditch. This caused the ATV to flip and partially land on Moore. His last live performance took place two days prior at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. Jeff Coffin, the saxophonist from Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, stood in for Moore on subsequent tour dates. July 1, 2008, in Charlotte, North Carolina, marked the first time a band member has missed a show since 1993, two years after the band was formed. Though released several days later, Moore was re-hospitalized in mid-July for complications related to the accident.

After Moore was released from the University of Virginia Health System, he traveled to his home in Los Angeles, California, to start his rehabilitation program. On the morning of August 19, Moore was feeling unwell and those who were present could see that his lips were turning blue. It was at this point that he was rushed to the hospital, but died shortly thereafter. While it was widely reported that he had died from a blood clot, the coroner's office determined his cause of death to be pneumonia. The following statement was released on the band's website:

We are deeply saddened to announce that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.

Matthews paid tribute to Moore on the day of his death at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, after the band's first song of the performance, "Bartender". "We all had some bad news today," Matthews told the sold-out crowd. "Our good friend LeRoi Moore passed on and gave his ghost up today and we will miss him forever." Fans then shouted Moore's name in remembrance.

On August 27, Moore was entombed at Holly Memorial Gardens in Albemarle County. Attendance at the funeral numbered in the thousands, including the rest of the band, Moore's family, and dedicated fans.

Moore died 3 months shy of his November 8, 2008 wedding to his longtime love and best friend, Lisa Beane.

“Roi loved people,” said Matthews, “but he had the hardest time loving himself, and that was the most difficult thing about being his friend for me, watching him torture himself.” Matthews said the 46-year-old Moore was “a good soul, but he was a tortured soul. But he loved his family and he loved his friends. He was finding himself, finding the light inside himself, and it was shining more than it had for a very long time.” Matthews credited Moore's fiance, Lisa Bean, for his newfound happiness. “I believe her unwavering love for him,” Matthews said, “and her willingness to stand in front of him, as he was reluctant to love himself, and insisted on it, caused him to eventually see the light. It was so bright,” Matthews continued, “that we could all see it so much all of the time, when he would put that horn in his mouth and make the most astonishingly honest music that could knock you over, and it would sink right to the middle of you.”

Dave Matthews Band released LeRoi Moore's final concert performance as Live Trax Vol. 14. The concert took place in the band's home state of Virginia in Bristow on June 28, 2008. Proceeds from the CD will be donated to local charities that Moore valued.