Mourning for Mojo Nixon (1957-2024): The US roots rock musician, rock’n’roll singer and “Elvis Is Everywhere” interpreter died on February 7th at the age of 66. His family made the announcement in a statement on Facebook.
According to People magazine, he was found dead Wednesday aboard the Outlaw Country Cruise, a cruise ship where he worked as an entertainer and co-host and where several concerts were held each year. Nixon is said to have made an appearance the evening before. The family lists the cause of death as a “heart attack.”
Mojo Nixon, whose real name was Neill Kirby McMillan Jr., was born in August 1957 in North Carolina. He grew up in Virginia, studied political science and history at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and then temporarily moved to England with the aim of becoming successful in the punk music scene. However, after having to make ends meet as a street musician on the London subway, he moved back to the USA.
In Denver he founded the punk band Zebra 123, but they split up early on. Nixon then went to San Diego, where he joined the Snuggle Bunnies. The group got a contract with Enigma Records and their debut album was released in 1985. Just two years later, the album “Bo-Day-Shus!!!” was released, which also included the single “Elvis Is Everywhere” – probably Nixon’s best-known song. In addition to music as such, Nixon also made a name for himself through the parodies of politicians, musicians and celebrities from the cultural business in his video clips and songs – although not always in a positive way.
From 1990 onwards, Mojo Nixon worked as a solo artist and released the albums “Otis” (1990), “Horny Holidays” (1992) and “Mojo Nixon Live at the Casbah” (2003), among others. He also appeared in a few films, such as “Super Mario Bros.” (1993), “Wagen 54 – Please Report” (1994), “A Four Course Meal” (2006) and most recently “Papercut 2” (2013).
