Isaiah Owens, 38, was found dead in his hotel room in Puebla. The cause of his death was later declared to have been a sudden heart attack. Since Isaiah Owens’ death occurred while Jack White and his band, the Buzzards were still on tour, Jack cancelled his remaining concerts in Mexico. Isaiah Owens played keyboards in Jack White’s band. He began his career playing in bands from Long Beach, California, bands like Long Beach Dub Allstars and Crystal Antlers. He later formed his very own band, called Free Moral Agents. Isaiah Owens had played in other bands as well, like The Mars Volta, De Facto, Look Daggers. His solo album was entitled “Looking for Lauryn Hill in Lakewood”. He had been collaborating with Jack White since 2012.
Jack White and his band were supposed to play a couple more concerts in Mexico, including Guadalajara and Monterrey. White’s record label released a statement declaring that Isaiah Owens was “an incredible artist”. The website of White and Third Man Record label had the following statement posted: “It is with great sadness that we tell the world of the passing of the incredible musician Isaiah ‘Ikey’ Owens. He will be missed and loved forever by his family, friends, band mates and fans. Out of respect for Ikey, the remaining shows of the Jack White Tour in Mexico have been cancelled. We will all miss you Ikey. You were and are an incredible artist”.
Isaiah Owens performed on both of Jack white’s solo albums. In 2009, while playing with Mars Volta, Owens won a Grammy Award for the best hard rock performance. He stopped performing with Mars Volta in 2010. After that, his other band members all went their separate ways. Neil Portnow, the president of The Recording Academy commented in regard to Owens’ early demise: “Our music community has lost a gifted and creative artist all too soon, and our thoughts go out to his family, his friends and the many musicians with whom he collaborated. Neil Portnow was the one who said about Isaiah Owens that he had a specific flair for “creating and experimenting with new and distinctive tones”.