On. Wednesday, Aug. 20, ex-Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds tragically died in a motorcycle collision. Two day later, Hinds’ former bandmate memorialized him with a poignant speech at Mastodon’s first-ever show in Alaska.
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“We lost somebody very special to us yesterday,” drummer Brann Dailor told the Alaska State Fair crowd Friday (Aug. 22.) “Brent Hinds, 25 years with us as our guitar player, one of the most creative, beautiful people that we’ve ever come across in this world, tragically left us. Very, very unfortunate.”
According to Atlanta police, the driver of a BMW failed to yield while making a turn at the intersection of Memorial Drive and Boulevard Wednesday night, striking the Harley-Davidson that Hinds, 51, was riding. Officers responded to the scene at about 11:35 p.m., where medical officials pronounced the progressive metal legend dead.
The news left the remaining Mastodon lineup “absolutely devastated and crushed,” Dailor said. So the “Show Yourself” rockers dedicated their Friday set to Hinds.
“You guys made it okay for us to come on stage and do this tonight,” the 50-year-old drummer continued. “So that was for f—ing Brent, okay?”
Dailor added, “So we will continue to play Brent’s beautiful, beautiful music that he helped us make, that we formed this band together and traveled the world together, slept in a van together, laid our heads down on beds of fucking kitty litter, got way too drunk to remember anything the next day about a thousand, million times over and over again with the love that we shared and the beauty, all the audiences that we played, for all the stages we stepped on.”
Mastodon gave a heartfelt tribute to co-founding member Brent Hinds on stage in Alaska on Friday night (8/22), following Brent's sudden and tragic death on Wednesday. #BrentHinds #Mastodon pic.twitter.com/NuVYrTi0ru
— THIS DAY IN METAL (@ThisDayInMETAL) August 23, 2025
Brent Hinds Left Mastodon Earlier This Year
Brent Hinds’ death came just five months after Mastodon announced they were parting ways with him after a quarter of a century together.
[RELATED: Famed Metal Band Parts Ways With Lead Singer and Guitarist After 25 Years]
Just one week before his death, the longtime guitarist lashed out at his former bandmates online, indicating that his exit was less than amicable. Dailor seemingly alluded to this conflict while paying tribute to his fellow Mastodon founder.
“We had the ups and downs of a 25-year relationship,” Dailor said. “It’s not always perfect, it’s not always amazing, but we were brothers to the end. And we really loved each other and we made a lot, a lot of very beautiful music together. And I think that that’s gonna stand the test of time, evidenced by you people here tonight.”
Featured image by Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
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