Cesare Bonizzi, 1946 – 2024

Musician Day continues with the death of heavy metal singer and Capuchin friar Cesare Bonizzi, 78. The Italian-born Bonizzi entered the Capuchin Order in 1975, and by the 1990s was using music—all genres—as part of his mission. He eventually settled on metal, “the most energetic, vital, deep and true musical language that I know.” Performing in full friar drag, he recorded several albums, and was an opening act at the 2008 Gods of Metal festival. Bonizzi retired from performing in 2009, claiming that the devil made him do it: “He lifted me up to the point where I become a celebrity and now I want to kill him.”