Cinderella Guitarist Jeff LaBar Dead at 58

The music world is mourning the loss of famed guitarist Jeff LaBar, 58, best known for playing with the glam metal band Cinderella.

His ex-wife Gaile LaBar-Bernhardt revealed to TMZ that friends and family had been unable to reach him for a few days. She went to LaBar’s Nashville apartment to check on him and discovered his body. No cause of death was given.

Jeff’s son Sebastian posted a tribute to his dad on Instagram, writing, “So i just got the call… @jefflabar , my father, my hero, my idol, passed away today. I’m currently at a loss for words. I love you pop! ❤️ if you could, please share pictures or video of all the fun times we all had with my dad. It would be greatly appreciated.”

His Cinderella bandmates Tom Keifer, Eric Brittingham, and Fred Coury also remembered him in a statement, saying, “Heavy hearts cannot begin to describe the feeling of losing our brother Jeff. The bond between us over decades of creating music and touring the world is something that we as a band uniquely shared. Those memories with Jeff will be forever alive in our hearts. It’s unimaginable that one of our band brothers has left us. We’re sending his wife Debinique, his son Sebastian, family, and friends our deepest condolences."

They added, "Jeff’s memory and music will be with us forever. We all... band, family and management appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of love. Rest In Peace Jeff."

LaBar shot to fame after he stepped in as a replacement for Cinderella guitarist Michael Kelly Smith in 1985.

Jeff was with the band when they released their first studio album, “Night Songs” (1986), featuring hits like “Nobody’s Fool” and “Somebody Save Me.”

The band went on to release “Long Cold Winter” in 1988, with the hit singles like “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone),” “The Last Mile,” and “Coming Home.”

Next, they released “Heartbreak Station” (1990), “Still Climbing” (1994), and the compilation “Once Upon A…” (1997).

LaBar went on to record a solo album, “One for the Road,” in 2014, but eventually left the music scene to pursue a culinary career.

He told Metal Edge magazine’s “Another FN Podcast” in 2016, "I'm pretty much done playing music. I can't do it on a high-school level anymore. With Cinderella, we have crew, we have bus drivers, we have buses and trucks and all. I wake up, I go onstage, I do my thing. On the level that I've been doing it for the past few years, I just don't have it in me anymore. I can't travel in a van with trailers and [haul] my own gear until four in the morning. It's just too hard. I enjoy cooking more."