John "Sib" Hashian

John ‘Sib’ Hashian, Drummer for Boston, Dies

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BOSTON (Combined Sources) — Sib Hashian, a former member of the rock group Boston, died after collapsing onstage on March 22.

Hashian’s wife, Suzanne, said the 67-year-old drummer collapsed while performing during the Legends of Rock Cruise.

“It is with deep and profound sadness I share the news of my husband’s, John ‘Sib’ Hashian, sudden death,” said Suzanne Hashian, his wife of 38 years.

Hashian played on Boston’s first two hit records, including their self-titled debut album in 1976 featuring the hit song More Than a Feeling, and their second album, “Don’t Look Back.”

Hashian, who called Lynnfield, Mass. home, owned a record shop and a string of tanning salons in Boston.

Hashian’s sudden passing  prompted an outpouring of social media tributes among the classic rock community — and one particularly poignant post from actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who called Hashian his “second dad.”

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“Don’t know why things have to happen the way they do sometimes,” wrote Johnson in an Instagram post sharing a photo of himself alongside Hashian and members of the family they’ve shared throughout Johnson’s long relationship with Hashian’s daughter Lauren. Lamenting the departures of loved ones who leave “suddenly without having a chance to say goodbye,” Johnson waxed philosophical, musing that “perhaps the lesson here is the reminder to live our lives as full and as present as we possibly can, because we just never know what’s around the corner.”

John “Sib” Hashian during the 1970s when he was a drummer with the band Boston

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton — an artist, like Hashian, with strong roots in the Boston musical community — shared his sorrow, praising the deceased as a “really good guy and fine drummer as well.” Ex-Foreigner singer Lou Gramm, who’d been booked on the cruise, shared his own condolences, sending “thoughts & prayers” to his family.

Hashian’s ex-bandmate Barry Goudreau expressed his own grief with fans and followers, writing, “Sib was in a million, never to be replaced. He will be greatly missed.” Fellow former Boston vet Michael Sweet served with the group well after Hashian left the lineup, and although Sweet admitted he’d never gotten the opportunity to perform with him, he sent his own well wishes to Hashian’s survivors, praising his “incredible contribution to my musical journey and to the history of rock and roll.”

“He was a legend, and I don’t think there’s a day that goes by today that I don’t hear his drumming on the radio,” said car magnate Ernie Boch, a longtime friend who played alongside Mr. Hashian for several years, beginning in 2004, in the band Ernie and the Automatics. “I listen to classic rock all the time, and if you listen to classic rock, you hear Sibby Hashian play every day.”

Hashian is survived by his wife, Suzanne; a son, Adam; two daughters, the songwriter Aja Hashian and the singer-songwriter Lauren Hashian; and Lauren’s daughter with the actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jasmine Johnson.

 

Topics: Obituary
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