Train, fronted by lead singer Pat Monahan, has responded to the passing of their former bass player, Charlie Colin, with a heartfelt tribute. The band shared a photo of their original lineup—Pat Monahan, Charlie Colin, Jimmy Stafford, Rob Hotchkiss, and Scott Underwood—on their Instagram page.
The post reads: “When I met Charlie Colin, I fell in love with him. He was THE sweetest guy and what a handsome chap. Let’s make a band—that’s the only reasonable thing to do. His unique bass playing and beautiful guitar work helped get folks to notice us in SF and beyond. I’ll always have a warm place for him in my heart. I always tried to pull him closer but he had a vision of his own. You’re a legend, Charlie. Go charm the pants off those angels.”
Colin reportedly slipped and fell in the shower while house-sitting for a friend in Brussels, according to his mother. His body was discovered when his friend returned home over the weekend.
A founding member of the pop-rock group, Colin had relocated to Belgium, where he taught a music master class and was actively working in a studio, composing music for a film.
Colin, Monahan, Hotchkiss, Stafford, and Underwood formed Train in San Francisco in 1993. The band achieved significant success with hits like “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” “Calling All Angels,” and “Hey, Soul Sister,” and won two Grammy Awards in 2002.
Colin left the band in 2003 after struggling with substance abuse issues. Reflecting on his departure in a 2023 interview with the video podcast Delphine’s Circle, Colin said, “There were a lot of things that led to me leaving, but it really escalated. We never took a break. We drove our tour bus into the parking lot of the recording studio for our second and third record… We just never stopped. It’s kind of one of those things where you feel like this is too good to be true.”
The music world mourns the loss of a talented musician whose contributions helped shape the sound and success of Train.
