Polaris guitarist Ryan Siew dies at age 26
Guitarist Ryan Siew dead at 26: Australian metalcore band Polaris confirm death of ‘brave and talented’ musician on eve of European tour – a week after cryptic post about a ‘personal crisis’
- Ryan Siew, 26, passed away last Monday, the band announced on Wednesday
- Guitarist had been a member of the metalcore quintet for ten years
- Tragic news comes a week after Polaris pulled out of its summer European tour
- At the time, the group called an unspecified “personal crisis” for canceling dates
Ryan Siew, the guitarist of the popular Australian metalcore band Polaris, has passed away unexpectedly at the age of 26.
He passed away more than a week ago – on June 19 – but the band waited until Wednesday to confirm his passing in an Instagram post.
They also said that their summer European tour is no longer going ahead.
“It is with broken hearts and deepest sorrow that we inform you that our dear brother and bandmate Ryan Siew passed away on the morning of Monday, June 19,” they wrote.
He was 26 years old, and for 10 incredible years he was our best friend and artistic soul mate.
Those years will never be enough. He was kind-hearted and smart, he was funny and brave and creative, and he was extremely talented.”
Ryan Siew, the guitarist of the popular Australian metalcore band Polaris, has died at the age of 26
The statement continued: “We ask that you respect Ryan’s family’s wishes for privacy at this time, and likewise that you allow space for us, our team and our family to grieve and try to heal from this immeasurable loss.
“We know you will grieve with us and that we, and our community, will hold each other through this.”
Just a week before Siew’s death was confirmed, the band shocked fans by pulling out of their European tour due to a then unspecified ‘personal crisis’.
‘To our friends all over Europe’, they wrote at the time. “We are heartbroken to tell you that due to a personal crisis in our family, we will be withdrawing from all remaining dates of our current European summer run.”
The group added: “This is not something we take lightly and we are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment caused.”
Polaris (LR: Rick Schneider, Jamie Hails, Ryan Siew, Daniel Furnari and Jake Steinhauser) are pictured at the 2018 ARIA Awards in Sydney
“He was kind-hearted and smart, he was funny and brave and creative, and he was extremely talented,” the band said of Siew.
Other members of Polaris include vocalist Jamie Hails, guitarist Rick Schneider, bassist Jake Steinhauser and drummer Daniel Furnari.
They were founded in Sydney in 2012 when they were all teenagers.
The group won an ARIA Award for Best Independent Heavy Album or EP in 2021 for their second album The Death of Me.
The album also reached the top forty in Germany, where the band was quite successful.
Polaris (seen outside the Enmore Theater in Newtown, Sydney) won a 2021 ARIA Award for Best Independent Heavy Album or EP for their second album The Death of Me
Siew’s death is the latest in a string of tragedies to hit the metal community in recent years.
Riley Gale, the lead singer of the thrash metal band Power Trip, developed pulmonary edema in August 2020 at the age of 34 due to a fentanyl overdose.
41-year-old Trevor Strnad, frontman of The Black Dahlia Murder, died by suicide in May 2022.
Saliva guitarist Wayne Swinny died in March after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.
Tim Aymar, lead singer of Pharaoh and Control Denied, passed away in February at the age of 59.
Josua Madsen, the drummer of Danish thrash metal band Artillery since 2021, was killed earlier this year when he was hit by a bus.
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