NEW YORK (AP) – Charlie Collen, bassist and founding member of the American pop-rock band Train, best known for early ’80s hits such as “Drops of Jupiter” and “Meet Virginia.” passed away. He was 58 years old.
Colin’s sister, Carolyn Stevens, confirmed her brother’s death to The Associated Press on Wednesday. She was house-sitting at her friend’s house in Brussels, Belgium, when she slipped and fell in the shower, entertainment website TMZ.com reported.
Colin grew up in California and Virginia and attended Berklee College of Music in Boston.
After college, he played in a group called the Apostles with guitarist Jimmy Stafford and singer Rob Hotchkiss. The band eventually disbanded and Colin moved to Singapore for a year to write jingles.
Eventually, Collin, Hotchkiss, and Stafford relocated to San Francisco and formed Train with singer Pat Monahan in the early ’90s, and according to an interview with Collin and Hotchkiss in the Berklee alumni magazine, Collin brought in drummer Scott Underwood to round out the group.
As a founding member of Train, Colin played on the band’s first three albums, 1998’s self-titled album, 2001’s Drops of Jupiter and 2003’s My Private Nation, the latter two releases peaking at number six on the Billboard 200 chart.
Train’s debut album, Meet Virginia, reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, but it was their sophomore album, Drops of Jupiter, that proved the band’s success.
The eight-times platinum album’s title track, “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” featuring Rolling Stones session pianist Chuck Leavell and Leonard Cohen’s string orchestra Paul Buckmaster, was written about the death of Monahan’s mother and reached number five on the charts. It also won two Grammy Awards, for Best Rock Song and Best Instrumental Arrangement with Vocalist.
Colin left Train in 2003 due to substance abuse. “Charlie is a great bass player, but he was in a lot of pain and the way he dealt with it was very painful for everyone around him,” Monaghan told NBC San Diego.
In 2015, he reunited with Hotchkiss and formed a new band with Tom Ruth called the Painbirds.
In 2017, he formed another band, Side Deal, with Sugar Ray’s Stan Frazier and Pawn Shop Kings’ Joel and Scott Owen.
On Wednesday, a tribute to Colin was posted on the band Train’s official Facebook and X social media pages. “When I met Charlie Colin (front row left), I fell in love with him. He was such a sweet guy, and what a handsome guy. That’s the only logical thing to do: Let’s form a band.” It is written.
“His unique bass playing beautiful guitar work brought people to us from SF and beyond. There will always be a warm place for him in my heart. I always tried to keep him close, but he had his own vision. You’re a legend, Charlie. Let’s take the angels’ pants off.”
Before his death, Colin documented his time in Brussels, writing in an Instagram post in March that it was “officially my favorite city.”
