The Dream is over - Paul Hester found Dead in Park last night

[Panamark]

For all Crowded House fans.

Drummer Paul Hester was found dead in a Park in Melbourne
last night after failing to return home while walking his
dogs. He was only 46. Fans of Crowded House will remember
this guy well. There are no suspicous circumstances, it seems
at this early stage he had a heart attack.

RIP PAUL HESTER ! The Heart and Soul of Crowded House.

[Panamark]

http://entertainment.news.com.au/story/0,10221,12676134-7484,00.html

[Panamark]

LEGENDARY Crowded House drummer Paul Hester was found dead yesterday in a public park.

Hester, 46, the father of two young girls, failed to return from walking his two dogs, Stan and Rose, on Saturday night.
Police later found his body in Elsternwick park near his Melbourne home. They said there were no suspicious circumstances and friends said they had been unaware of Hester having been depressed.

Last night, former Crowded House members, singer Neil Finn and bassist Nick Seymour, said they were reeling from the tragedy.

"I am devastated," Finn told The Daily Telegraph from London. "I have lost one of my best mates."

Finn, on tour with his brother Tim, is due to start four dates at the Royal Albert Hall in London, but may postpone the performances to fly to Melbourne today.

As news of Hester's death swept Sydney's Cockatoo Island Festival last night, You Am I singer Tim Rogers dedicated a song to the drummer during his set.

Split Enz and Crowded House members were contacted by Peter Green, from Neil Finn's office, yesterday. "I can't imagine a sadder day than today," Mr Green, Hester's long-time friend, said last night.

"I feel for Paul's little girls. We are still, all of us, asking why?"

Mr Green said Hester, a perennial joker on stage and off, had been in good spirits in recent times. "Paul had some dark moments. Some good days and some bad days, like all of us," Mr Green said.

Hester had returned from Dublin two weeks ago, where he enjoyed an upbeat visit with former Crowdies bassist, Nick Seymour.

"It was all good," Seymour said from Dublin last night. "The last words Paul told me were: 'I love you, mate. See you in town [Melbourne] in a month'."

Hester quit Crowded House in 1994, but had reinvented himself into a drummer-for-hire, cafe owner and charismatic frontman of MusicMax Sessions on Foxtel. Hester also played drums in Split Enz from 1983 to 1984.

He lived in Elwood - a fashionable bayside suburb of Melbourne - with his girlfriend, Mardi Sommerfeld, and their two daughters, aged 10 and 8.

Mr Green dismissed music industry speculation that Hester was battling illness at the time of his death.

"Paul never said anything about that and I never, ever, heard he was suffering from any illness," he said. "Then, after today, I wonder if anybody really knew anything."

Last night, music industry leaders were in mourning for a drummer, who, in Crowded House, cracked the US market with the 1987 hit, Don't Dream It's Over.

"We have lost a mate," Mr Green said. "We have lost the heart and soul of Crowded House.

"I know how much Paul loved his kids, I know how much he loved life. None of this makes sense. Anyone who saw Hessie at his finest knew he grabbed life by the balls.

"People who worked with Paul are in tatters. Neil Finn wants to come home, but we have urged him to stay in London and do the shows for Paul."

Hester performed with the Finns during their national tour late last year.

"When Paul played those shows, it was like it should be," Mr Green said.

Hester was born and raised in Melbourne. His father, Mulga Mike Hester, was a legendary bushman and his mother, Ann, a jazz drummer.

Hester joined Split Enz in 1983, then, with Neil Finn formed Crowded House. In 2003, Hester and Seymour joined forces in the band, Tarmac Adam.

[Rikk]

Not a CROWDED HOUSE fan, but that's some sad shit. 46 is no age to die.

[academic punk]

I just listened to WOODFACE yesterday! Damn creepy!

RIP Paul. Thaks for the music!

[Hardrock69]

Like Rikk, not into them, but a tragedy nonetheless.

[Panamark]

The plot thickens, some websites are reporting that he killed himself !

[Panamark]

FUCK ITS TRUE !!

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12677801-28793,00.html

[Panamark]

AUSTRALIA'S entertainment industry and music fans are in shock today at the death of former Crowded House drummer Paul Hester, who hanged himself at the weekend.

Hester, 46, the father of two girls, was found dead at Elsternwick Park in Brighton, Melbourne, yesterday, after failing to return from walking his two dogs on Friday night.
Police confirmed the discovery of a body at the park and said there were no suspicious circumstances.

The Metropolitan Ambulance Service said ambulance officers who attended the scene found Hester had "attempted suicide" and suffered "strangulation".

"They attempted resuscitation but he was dead when they arrived. There was nothing they could do," MAS spokeswoman Liraje Memishi said.

Last night, former Crowded House members, singer Neil Finn and bassist Nick Seymour, said they were reeling from the tragedy.

"I am devastated," Finn said. "I have lost one of my best mates." Finn, on tour with his brother Tim, is due to start four dates at the Royal Albert Hall in London, but may postpone the performances to fly to Melbourne today.

Split Enz and Crowded House members were contacted by Peter Green, from Neil Finn's office, yesterday. "I can't imagine a sadder day than today," Mr Green, Hester's long-time friend, said last night.

"I feel for Paul's little girls. We are still, all of us, asking why?"

Mr Green said Hester, a perennial joker on stage and off, had been in good spirits in recent times. "Paul had some dark moments. Some good days and some bad days, like all of us," Mr Green said.

Hester had returned from Dublin two weeks ago, where he enjoyed an upbeat visit with former Crowdies bassist, Nick Seymour.

"It was all good," Seymour said from Dublin last night. "The last words Paul told me were: 'I love you, mate. See you in town (Melbourne) in a month'."

"We have lost a mate," Mr Green said. "We have lost the heart and soul of Crowded House.

"I know how much Paul loved his kids, I know how much he loved life. None of this makes sense. Anyone who saw Hessie at his finest knew he grabbed life by the balls.

"People who worked with Paul are in tatters. Neil Finn wants to come home, but we have urged him to stay in London and do the shows for Paul."

Hester quit Crowded House in 1994, but had reinvented himself as a drummer for hire and owner of the Elwood Beach Cafe.

He had his own music chat show, Hessie's Shed, on ABC TV in the late 1990s, was the host of Music Max Sessions, a series of acoustic concerts, on Foxtel and made a number of guest radio and TV appearances, including a semi-regular role on the popular Austereo radio program Martin/Molloy.

He lived in Elwood - a fashionable bayside suburb of Melbourne - with his girlfriend Mardi Sommerfeld and their two daughters aged eight and 10.

[Panamark]

WTF ????

[Rikk]

They'll probably never know. They never really figured out why HUTCHENCE killed himself.

[Panamark]

Hutchence was a jack-off experiment gone wrong..

He was into auto erotic asphysxciation. (Spellling ?)

Its basically a method where you strangle yourself, and
release the strangle when you cum. Meant to give you
a bigger rush when you orgasm..

Dont try this at home kiddies, just ask Michael Hutchence !

[Rikk]

I'm still not convinced of this. Dude hung himself. There are easier ways to play around with the sexual asphyxiation than putting a rope around your neck and kicking away the chair.

Actually, they were also a really talented group.

[Jesus Christ]

My House is not Crowded, but We welcome Paul anyway.

[Panamark]

Originally posted by Rikk
I'm still not convinced of this. Dude hung himself. There are easier ways to play around with the sexual asphyxiation than putting a rope around your neck and kicking away the chair.

Actually, they were also a really talented group.

Thats not how it happened, the whole of Sydney heard the "real" story, after all it was our cops etc that attended the scene.

No Chair involved, he had attached his belt around his neck and to
the door, he was naked and had been masturbating.

This was not reported in the media at the request of his family.

You should read the interviews with his friends who were with him
all night prior to the accident. He was excited about the new tour
and record, and basically got wasted in the hotel room with a
group of old friends, his wife (Paula Yates) was in England at
the time. She later comitted suicide.