Multiple catastrophic wildfires continue burning through southern California four days later. The flames have claimed seven lives and sent hundreds of thousands residents fleeing from their homes. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reports that upwards of 12,300 structures have been destroyed as of Saturday (Jan. 11) morning. So many people have lost everything, including Larry “Ler” LaLonde, guitarist for alternative metal icons Primus.
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Primus Frontman Shares Heartbreaking Photo of Bandmate’s Home
It’s a sobering experience bearing witness to the destruction that only nature can wreak. We can’t even begin to imagine how it feels to see that destruction touch your own life.
Primus lead singer Les Claypool took to social media Friday (Jan. 10) to share a picture of bandmate Larry “Ler” LaLonde’s Pacific Palisades home. Only the chimney stood intact amidst the wreckage.
“All that is left of our good friend Ler Lalonde’s home,” Claypool wrote. “When Mother Nature gets up on her hind legs, it can be brutal. My heart hurts for him and his family.”
Shane Stirling LaLonde, the guitarist’s wife, wrote on her own Instagram page that she was “gutted to the core.”
“I know we are safe and yes I am grateful, but I can’t even begin to be close to grace yet as I can’t even comprehend this yet,” wrote the former Price Is Right model. “Not just the things, but our town, our community. We all no longer have a home, a neighborhood, a school, a community.”
The couple have two children, Sierra and Avery.
LaLonde and Claypool Have Been Friends For Years
A lifelong Californian, Ler LaLonde joined Primus in 1989. The funk metal outfit went on unofficial hiatus in 1988, and Les Claypool had been “moonlighting” playing bass for his former band, Blind Illusion. That’s when he invited LaLonde, Blind Illusion’s guitarist and one of his best friends, to help kickstart Primus’ comeback. Since then, the band has released seven studio albums and scored three Grammy nods.
[RELATED: Primus Open to Submission as Band Looks for New Drummer “From All Points in the Universe”]
“The band has always been, on a personal level, me and Ler,” Claypool told BAM magazine in July 1997. “We hang out and do all these things together, so a lot of the creative stuff that happens comes straight from us, definitely most of the humor stuff.”
Featured image by David Simchock/ZUMA Wi
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