Blackie Onassis obit

Blackie Onassis Dies: Urge Overkill Drummer Who Played On Song Featured In ‘Pulp Fiction’ Was 57

 

He was not on the list.

Born John Rowan on August 27, 1965, Onassis joined Chicago-based alt-rock trio Urge Overkill in the early 1990s and played with the group as they opened for Nirvana’s Nevermind tour in late 1991, which led to the band being signed by Geffen Records. Alongside singer-guitarist Nash Kato and Eddie “King” Roeser, he drummed and sang on three of the group’s ’90s albums: The Supersonic Storybook (1991), Saturation (1993) and Exit the Dragon (1995).

The latter two Geffen Records sets only dented the Billboard 200, but “Sister Havana” — a single from Saturation — reached the Top 10 of the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock tallies. Watch the rollicking song’s official video below.

But the group’s would come with their remake of a Top 10 Neil Diamond hit from 1967. Quentin Tarantino featured Urge Overkill’s take on “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” in his Palme d’Or-winning 1994 classic Pulp Fiction. The track played as Mia (Uma Thurman) sang and danced to it before overdosing by snorting heroin she found in Vincent’s (John Travolta) jacket.

The song was the lone single release from the film’s eclectic soundtrack, peaking at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helping fuel the album to No. 21. The Pulp Fiction disc eventually was certified triple-platinum for sales of 3 million units. “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” reached the Top 25 in a few European countries including Iceland, where it hit No. 1.

Roeser left the group after the release of Exit the Dragon, leaving Urge Overkill as a duo. Around that time, Onassis was arrested for heroin possession, but the charges eventually were dropped.

The band took an extended break, and Kato released a solo disc in 2000 that featured about half of its songs co-penned with Onassis. Roeser returned in 2004, and Urge Overkill went on without Onassis.

Kato and Roeser eventually lost touch with Onassis, and he would not return to the public spotlight.