10/08/2014 20:45

Agent Steel

Bernie Versailles (Agent Steel guitarist) in coma after suffering aneurysm

According to Arizona punk act We Steal Copper, Redemption/Agent Steel guitarist Bernie Versailles has apparently suffered an aneurysm and is current in a coma. As of yet, there has been no official press statement from either the Versailles family or Redemption.

The post on We Steal Copper's Facebook pages as of last night reads: "Please keep our best friend & camera man, Bernie Versailles, in your prayers. He is in a coma right now after suffering an anyerism [sic]. Some of you know him from our 'Beer Pong' video shoot. Some of you may know him as the guitarist of Agent Steel. We know & love him like family. Either way he has been with us since the beginning and he and his family need all the positive energy. Thank u guys!"

This morning, the band posted the following statement online from Agent Steel bassist Michael Zaputil:

"Michael here. First off, I want to thank all of you. I want to thank Bernie's and my forever brothers in the Agent Steel family, Juan, Karlos, Rick, and Chuck. I also want to thank our brothers in the thrash community who have expressed their concerns. I love you all more than I could express, it is exactly how we pulled together in the first place and took the world as our own back when it mattered. But I have to get this off my chest. It isn't fair. Bernie and I joined Agent Steel together in late 1985. He was 18, I was 26. Before that as a teenager, he devoted himself to being the best musician possible, but he was also a gifted natural. Clean living. Dedicated. In contrast, I on the other hand from the late '70s through the '80s was Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain combined. I did enough blow and heroin to keep the Afghan and South American drug cartels in business for years, and trust me, that is no exaggeration. Along with being a heavy drinker and smoker. Still smoking actually. At that time, I considered myself a Christian, talk about a walking contradiction.

"Here is a guy that never abused his physical body though, took his music totally seriously, and then this. Just one of many things nowadays that make no sense to me. I happen to know that there are enough of us sending positive prayer and energy to see him through this. It will happen, I will not accept this otherwise. He and I have been through things together you wouldn't believe. Going on thirty years. Way too much to get stopped in our tracks now, we have much work to do. And I'm sorry I didn't respond to some of you earlier, when I get hit with something like this, I tend to pull away and go into my shell. I'm fucked up that way. But bless you all...."

Redemption founder Nick van Dyk posted an update on the surgery: "Doctors operated on him and said it was successful and vitals are good, but Bernie is not out of the woods by any stretch. I think we will keep updates to a minimum as this is a matter for his family. Please keep Bernie and his family in your thoughts and prayers. He is one of the kindest and most thoughtful people one could ever meet, and his talent is as big as his heart."

More information is expected soon.

(source: MetalUnderground.com)