Drummer Raja Azreen Raja Talib died last month after collapsing onstage during a performance.
Talib collapsed during a July 18 performance with his rock band Meditasi at the Teruntum Rock Festival in Kuantan, Malaysia, and was later pronounced dead, according to multiple Malaysian outlets, including Berita Harian and the New Straits Times. He was 56.
Meditasi's frontman Bakaruddin Daud, known as Burn, told Malay-language outlet Berita Harian that the group had just begun the second of its 10 songs when Talib collapsed. Daud said he "rushed towards" Talib, "but I could sense that he might already have been gone."
"I called out to him and patted him, but there was no response. His body had also become cold," the singer added.
Ambulances quickly arrived
and Talib was taken to a nearby hospital. He was given respiratory assistance, but his eldest brother Raja Azman Raja Taib later told Berita Harian the musician was pronounced dead just before 11 p.m. local time, with his cause of death being heart complications.
Both Taib and Daud, who said he was “truly shocked and deeply saddened” by the death of his bandmate, revealed to the outlet that Talib had recently been diagnosed with diabetes and was hospitalized twice in June due to heart complications.
Taib also said his younger brother was at a BMX competition – and won – right before going to the Teruntum Rock Festival. "It is possible that extreme fatigue took a toll on his heart," Taib told Berita Harian.
Meditasi was formed in 1986 by Talib, Daud and guitarist Rosli Ahmad. They remained active throughout the '90s before splitting up and later reuniting in 2015.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drummer Raja Azreen dies at 56 after collapsing mid-performance at rock festival
