The Dead Kennedys in New York in 1983, From left: the late DH Peligro, guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Flouride and vocalist Jello Biafra
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The Dead Kennedys have responded to the published cause of death of their longtime drummer DH Peligro. He was found dead at his home in Los Angeles in October 2022. He was 63.
According to the autopsy report, obtained by the Los Angeles Times and TMZ, DH Peligro (real name Darren Eric Henley) died from the “combined effects of fentanyl and heroin.” The report also revealed that the drummer suffered from lung cancer and had a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
The punksters responded by posting on their official Facebook page on May 3: “DH Peligro has had its struggles. What is not mentioned in these articles is that he was battling cancer and the chemo treatments didn’t catch it all, his health was failing,” they shared.
They add: “When police arrived at the East Bay Ray (Guitarist, real name Raymond John Pepperell) called, they told him that it appeared he died from a fall in the bathroom, saying that it’s usually caused by a stroke or an accidental trip. Ray told the officer about DH’s cancer and poor health. Now we know there’s more to it than that.”
News of Peligro’s death was broken by the band in a social media post on October 29, 2022. At the time, Dead Kennedy explained that “police at the scene determined that he died from head trauma caused by an accidental fall.”
They ended their last post with a farewell: “Goodbye brother, you will always be in our hearts. rest in power”.
Peligro joined the Dead Kennedys in 1981, replacing founding drummer Ted (actually Bruce Slesinger). After the band broke up in 1986, Peligro briefly joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers as Jack Irons’ replacement, but was fired a year later. The drummer also attended the Dead Kennedys’ reunion in 2001 and continued to drum for them until his death.