Mojo Nixon, the unapologetically brash musician, actor, and radio DJ, died of "a cardiac event" on Wednesday, Feb. 7, his family confirmed to Rolling Stone. He was 66. Nixon was aboard the Outlaw Country Cruise, an annual music cruise where he was a co-host and regular performer.
"August 2, 1957 - February 7, 2024 Mojo Nixon. How you live is how you should die. Mojo Nixon was full-tilt, wide-open rock hard, root hog, corner on two wheels + on fire," his family shared in a statement to Rolling Stone. "Passing after a blazing show, a raging night, closing the bar, taking no prisoners + a good breakfast with bandmates and friends.
"A cardiac event on the Outlaw Country Cruise is about right & that's just how he did it, Mojo has left the building," his family's statement continued. "Since Elvis is everywhere, we know he was waiting for him in the alley out back. Heaven help us all."
Nixon enjoyed a supremely weird yet singular career after he and his former partner, Skid Roper, scored a bizarro breakthrough in 1987 with their novelty hit "Elvis Is Everywhere." A deranged bit of cowpunk/rockabilliy pastiche that honored (and lightly skewered) the King of Rock and Roll's diehard fans, "Elvis Is Everywhere" and its charming low-budget video became an unexpected MTV staple.
Nixon and Roper recorded six albums together during the Eighties; after they split, Nixon embarked on a career of his own, releasing a bunch of solo albums and a handful of collaborative LPs (including one with the Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra). He also scored work as an actor and radio DJ, eventually becoming a regular presence on SiriusXM's Outlaw Country channel in the mid-2000s, where he was known as "The Loon in the Afternoon."
"We are absolutely devastated," said Jeff Cuellar, CEO of Sixthman, which organized the Outlaw Country Cruise. "Our thoughts and hearts are with Mojo's family and the Outlaw community."