Founding Marilyn Manson Guitarist Daisy Berkowitz Dead At 49

Catherine McGann/Getty Images

Founding Marilyn Manson Guitarist Daisy Berkowitz Dead At 49

Catherine McGann/Getty Images

Daisy Berkowitz, the original guitarist for Marilyn Manson, has died after a four-year battle with colon cancer, Blabbermouth reports. He was 49.

Berkowitz, whose real name was Scott Putesky, met Brian Warner, the future Marilyn Mason, at a Ft. Lauderdale club in 1989. Together, they quickly put together the band Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids, which developed into just Marilyn Manson. Early on, all the band members got their stage names from combining female sex symbols with male serial killers; Putesky’s came from Daisy Duke and David Berkowitz, the Son Of Sam.

Berkowitz played on Manson’s 1994 debut album Portrait Of An American Family and on the Smells Like Children EP. He left the group over creative differences when they were midway through making 1996’s Antichrist Superstar. After leaving Manson, Berkowitz briefly joined the band Jack Off Jill. (Berkowitz’s former Jack Off Jill bandmate Jessicka Addams recently accused his former Marilyn Manson bandmate Twitty Ramirez of rape.) Berkowitz also played with the bands Three Ton Gate, the Linda Blairs, and Kill Miss Pretty, and he recorded solo music under the name SMP.

In 2004, Berkowitz sued Manson over unpaid royalties, and they settled out of court. Last night, Manson paid Berkowitz tribute on Instagram:

Below, watch videos for a few of the songs that Berkowitz made with Manson.

more from News