Robbin Crosby
Encyclopedia
Robbin Crosby was an American guitarist who was a member of glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...

 band Ratt
Ratt
Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...

, earning several platinum albums in the U.S. in the mid-to-late 1980s. Crosby was HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 positive, but died from a heroin overdose in 2002.

Early life

Crosby was born Robb Lantz Crosby in La Jolla, California, and had two sisters, Ristin and Bronle. The son of Harry W. Crosby, a schoolteacher and author.

With Ratt

Crosby was one of the original members of Ratt. Towards the end of 1981 and would end up co-writing many of Ratt's songs including "Round and Round
Round and Round (Ratt song)
"Round and Round" is a song by American glam metal band Ratt which proved to be the biggest hit of their career, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It appears as the third track of their album Out of the Cellar...

", "Wanted Man" and "Lay it Down". The album Out of the Cellar
Out of the Cellar
Out of the Cellar is the breakthrough album by heavy metal band Ratt, released in 1984. It is currently certified 3x platinum by the RIAA. Produced by Beau Hill, the album features their best-known hit, "Round and Round", and other hits such as "Wanted Man", "Lack of Communication" and a...

went to triple platinum based on Crosby's co-penned "Round and Round".

Crosby was dating actress Tawny Kitaen
Tawny Kitaen
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...

 (who would go on to appear in several Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...

 videos) at the time he joined Ratt, and she appears on the album covers of both the Ratt EP (1983) and Out of the Cellar
Out of the Cellar
Out of the Cellar is the breakthrough album by heavy metal band Ratt, released in 1984. It is currently certified 3x platinum by the RIAA. Produced by Beau Hill, the album features their best-known hit, "Round and Round", and other hits such as "Wanted Man", "Lack of Communication" and a...

(1984).

In the coming years, Crosby eventually bought a home in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, Crosby married Playboy Playmate Laurie Carr in 1987, eventually divorcing in 1991. They had no children.

After Ratt

Crosby eventually left Ratt. Prior to leaving, Crosby worked as a producer for metal band Lillian Axe
Lillian Axe
Lillian Axe is a hard rock band from New Orleans who write and perform music from acoustic ballads to full out heavy metal anthems. Four studio recordings were released before they disbanded in 1995...

.

In a June 1999 interview for a Ratt episode of VH1's Behind the Music
Behind the Music
Behind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...

, Crosby talked about how drug addiction and his HIV status changed his life. "What has drug addiction done for me?" he asked. "It's cost me my career, my fortune, basically my sex life when I found out I was HIV positive.

In 2001, Crosby publicly stated that he had AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 and had been HIV positive since 1994. He had also been in and out of the hospital for eight years dealing with back problems and health issues associated with the HIV virus. To occupy his time he became a Little League
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...

 coach, and also worked on a guitar fan/collector project, which was to create a limited-edition run of Jackson King V "Big Red" replica guitars.

Crosby also attempted various musical projects, first (post-Ratt) re-uniting with San Diego friend and former Warrior/Atomic Playboys vocalist Perry McCarty, Krys Baratto, Dino Guerrero and Mark Lewis as an updated version of Secret Service, a moniker used by McCarty and Crosby previously for their pre-Ratt San Diego band. Later moving to El Paso in 1996, he briefly played with the Country/Western group Bill&Kev&War Party. One of his last projects was with former collaborator and ex-Ratt bassist Juan Croucier
Juan Croucier
Juan Croucier is a Cuban-American heavy metal musician.-Career:Croucier attended Torrance High School in Torrance, California. Formerly a bassist for well known metal bands Dokken and Ratt during the 1980s, Croucier was also very briefly in Quiet Riot...

.

Death

Crosby died in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 on June 6, 2002. Reported causes of his death include AIDS-related complications, and heroin overdose.

At the time of his death Crosby had changed physically, due to a pancreatic condition that changed his metabolism
Metabolism
Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...

; Crosby had gained significant weight since his 1980s Ratt heyday. He was quoted as saying in an interview just before his death, "Apparently my pancreas has given up and I'm not metabolizing food the way I should. It's real frustrating.... I have a roommate that probably weighs 150 lbs. and he eats a lot more than I do. It's not like I'm a pig or a slob."

According to an autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...

 report after his death, Crosby weighed over 400 pounds (181.4 kg).

In a 1999 interview that was first televised in 2006, when Ratt's Behind the Music
Behind the Music
Behind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...

episode finally aired, Crosby stated, "When I die, nobody cry at my funeral, in fact let's all have a party; I've lived the life of ten men. I lived all my dreams and more."

Crosby's remains were cremated. His memorial was at Windansea Beach
Windansea Beach
Windansea Beach is stretch of coastline located in La Jolla, a community of San Diego, California. The neighborhood adjacent to the beach is named Windansea after the beach. It is named after an oceanfront hotel that burned down in the late 1940s...

 in La Jolla, California; friends and family on surfboard
Surfboard
A surfboard is an elongated platform used in the sport of surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave...

s spread his ashes out at sea.

With Ratt

  • Ratt EP
    Ratt EP
    Ratt is Ratt's first official release, originally released on the band's Time Coast label. The version of "Back For More" featured on this EP is an earlier recording than the one on Out of the Cellar. The European version also features an earlier recording of "You're in Trouble" as a bonus track,...

    (1983)
  • Out of the Cellar
    Out of the Cellar
    Out of the Cellar is the breakthrough album by heavy metal band Ratt, released in 1984. It is currently certified 3x platinum by the RIAA. Produced by Beau Hill, the album features their best-known hit, "Round and Round", and other hits such as "Wanted Man", "Lack of Communication" and a...

    (1984)
  • Invasion of Your Privacy
    Invasion of Your Privacy
    Invasion of Your Privacy is the second album by American Heavy metal group Ratt. It was released in 1985 and featured the singles "Lay It Down", "You're in Love" and "What You Give Is What You Get"...

    (1985)
  • Dancing Undercover
    Dancing Undercover
    - Side Two :-Personnel:* Stephen Pearcy - Lead vocals* Warren DeMartini - Lead guitar, backing vocals* Robbin Crosby - Lead guitar, backing vocals* Juan Croucier - Bass guitar, backing vocals* Bobby Blotzer - Drums, percussion-Certifications:...

    (1986)
  • Reach for the Sky (1988)
  • Detonator
    Detonator (album)
    Detonator is Ratt's fifth studio album, released in August 1990.Though their previous album, Reach for the Sky, went platinum, it met with much criticism regarding the quality of their songs. In an attempt to regain the popularity that Ratt had in the mid-1980s, the band parted ways with long-time...

    (1990)
  • Ratt & Roll 81-91
    Ratt & Roll 81-91
    Ratt & Roll 8191 is a compilation album collecting most of the biggest hits from 1983 to 1991 from the American glam-metal band Ratt. It charted at #57 and remained a consistent seller in Ratt's catalog , with sales around 700,000 by 2002 , when another compilation , The Essentials, was released...

    (1991)

External links

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