Mojo Nixon, who mixed roots and punk rock, dies at 66

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Mojo Nixon, the firebrand psychobilly musician and radio host who rose to fame with his 1987 satirical hit “Elvis Is Everywhere,” died Wednesday aboard a country music cruise he co-hosted. He was 66 years old.

His death was confirmed by Matt Eskey, director of a 2020 documentary about Nixon. He said Nixon had a “cardiac event” while he was sleeping while the Outlaw Country cruise ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

TO statement Posted on the film’s official Facebook page said Nixon had died “after a fiery show, a furious night, closing the bar, taking no prisoners.”

Nixon was best known for his celebrity parodies, such as “Don Henley Must Die” and “Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Son,” and for satirical rants such as “I Hate Banks” and “Destroy All Lawyers.” “It was all played in full swing over a foundation of rockabilly, blues and R&B, which earned Nixon some friends in the roots rock community, but he had enough punk attitude, in his own strange way, to make him a staple.” of university radio during its heyday,” the All music guide wrote.

“I’m a firebrand who makes humorous social commentary within a rock and roll environment,” he told the New York Times in 1990.

“Elvis Is Everywhere” and its video caught the attention of MTV, which made him an occasional host in 1988.

Mr. Nixon, whose real name is Neil Kirby McMillan Jr., is survived by his wife Adaire McMillan, sons Rafe Cannonball McMillan and Ruben McMillan, granddaughter Avery Frances McMillan, sister Jane Holden McMillan and brother Arthur Reese McMillan, he said Eskey.

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