Mojo Nixon died on Wednesday (Feb. 7). The “Elvis Is Everywhere” singer and popular host on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country channel was on the Outlaw Country Cruise when he was found dead after a night of good cheer.
- Nixon’s wild and dynamic career including punk, rockabilly and comedic songs.
- His most well-known songs borrow from all three genres, and he often name-checked celebrities.
- The North Carolina native also acted. In 1989 he was in the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire, playing drummer James Van Eaton.
Confirmation of Nixon’s death came on Facebook on Wednesday night.
“Mojo Nixon was full-tilt, wide-open rock hard, root hog, corner on two wheels and on fire,” a message at a page dedicated to a documentary on his life read.
“Passing after a blazing show, a raging night, closing the bar, taking no prisoners + a good breakfast with bandmates and friends,” the account shares. “A cardiac event on the Outlaw Country Cruise is about right … & that’s just how he did it.”
Photo of Mojo Nixon With Dan Auerbach and Hank Williams Jr. in 2022
Mojo Nixon Songs:
Mojo Nixon was born Neill Kirby McMillian Jr. on Aug. 2, 1957. His music career began in the early ’80s in San Diego, and in 1987 he dropped his Bo-Day-Shus!!! album, which included “Elvis Is Everywhere.”
MTV put the video in rotation, and in the years that followed, he cut songs like “Stuffin’ Martha’s Muffin'” — a less than reverent song about MTV VJ Martha Quinn — and “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child.”
Another song called “Don Henley Must Die” received a surprising endorsement by the former Eagle. The Austin Chronicle remembers Henley taking the stage with Nixon in 1992 to sing a song that begins with these lyrics:
“He’s a tortured artist / Used to be in the Eagles / Now he whines like a wounded beagle.”
Beginning in the 2000s, Nixon started to host various shows on SiriusXM. The satellite radio network’s website still lists him as host of “The Loon in the Afternoon” on Channel 62.
His death on the Outlaw Country Cruise was deemed as appropriate by the Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon documentary Facebook page. He’d hosted events on the ship several times and performed earlier in the week.
Per the New York Times, Nixon leaves behind wife Adaire McMillian, two sons and extended family.
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Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes