Both members and the tour manager of Liverpool-based rock band Her’s have died in a car crash while touring the US, their record label has confirmed.
According to The Guardian, Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading were on their way to a gig in Santa Ana, California, early on Wednesday morning when they were involved in a traffic accident with another vehicle. Both members and their tour manager, Trevor Engelbrektson, were killed.
The Daily Telegraph adds that a fourth person – an occupant of the other vehicle involved – was also killed, after driving the “wrong way on Interstate 10” before colliding with the band’s van at around 1am.
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A fire is then believed to have broken out, meaning authorities have not been unable to make a formal identification of the bodies.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the band’s label Heist Or Hit said they were “heartbroken” at the news.
“Their energy, vibrancy and talent came to define our label,” the statement said. “As humans, they were warm, gentle and hilarious. Each time they stopped by the office made for an uplifting experience. To say they were close would be an underestimation of a friendship that was genuinely beautiful to witness; they loved one another like brothers.”
Lead singer and guitarist Fitzpatrick, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and bass player Laading, originally from Kristiansand in Norway, met at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and released their debut single Dorothy in 2016.
Posting on Instagram on Monday, the band said they were “almost home” following their second tour of the US, adding that the “US tour has gone swimmingly so far”.
