Blackie Onassis, Urge Overkill Drummer, Dies Aged 57
Onassis (real name Johnny Rowan) played on the band’s hit cover of Neil Diamond’s ‘Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon’ from the ‘Pulp Fiction’ soundtrack.
Johnny Rowan, who drummed for ’90s alt rockers Urge Overkill under the name Blackie Onassis, has died at age 57, the band has confirmed. No cause of death has been revealed at the time of writing.
Urge Overkill shared the news in a statement on social media which read: “Urge Overkill is saddened to report that Blackie has passed away. Please respect our privacy at this time. We are sending much love to his family and all his fans. We know he will be missed.” In a second post, the band thanked fans for their “love and support” following the news and shared a recent photo of Rowan with actor/musician Jack Black.
Hailing from Chicago’s south side, Rowan first joined the band in 1991, ahead of the band’s major-label signing to Geffen. Assuming the alias Blackie Onassis, he first drummed on their 1991 album, The Supersonic Storybook. The drummer would later say, “I’m not Blackie Onassis because of my personal life, I’m Blackie Onassis because I drum in Urge. I like being Blackie Onassis; it’s like living in a musical wonderland.”
Onassis stayed on board to perform on Urge Overkill’s best-known hit: their cover of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack in 1994.
The song was the Chicago band’s lone Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at No. 59. It also peaked at No. 11 on the Alternative Airplay chart, and its music video was nominated for best video from a film at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. The Pulp Fiction soundtrack peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and spent a hefty 107 weeks on the chart.
Urge Overkill also enjoyed a top 10 rock and alternative hit in “Sister Havana” from Saturation, their first album for Geffen in 1993. The song peaked at No. 6 on Alternative Airplay and No. 10 on Modern Rock Airplay. They also received major exposure when they opened for Nirvana on the latter’s tour in support of their mega-selling second album Nevermind.
In an interview with Spin magazine in 1992, Onassis said of the band, “We are here to resurrect the era of the swinger — the late ’60s, the playboy life when America was a fun place. The golden era of Vegas, Neil Diamond, moonlight dancing, and Anton La Vey!”
Exit the Dragon, the band’s second and final album for Geffen in 1995, was also the last UO album for Rowan, who was struggling with drug-related issues in his personal life. He left the band in 1997 and didn’t rejoin the group when it re-formed in 2004. Onassis did, however, team with Urge Overkill frontman Nash Kato to co-write six songs on his 2000 solo debut Debutante.
