Ronnie Montrose's cause of death: suicide

According to Guitar Player and various other sites today, guitarist Ronnie Montrose's death has been ruled as a suicide by the San Mateo County coroner. An autopsy conducted on April 6 says that a self-inflicted gunshot wound was found on Montrose. Montrose, who died on March 3, was thought to have died from prostate cancer. The toxicology report says that Montrose's blood alcohol level was at 0.31 %, almost four times the legal limit in California. It has also been report that when the 64-year old guitarist was found in his home, he was holding an unregistered .38 caliber revolver. Montrose's family have released a statement on the guitarist's official site: 

"By now, the devastating truth of Ronnie’s death is public knowledge. We hope you can understand why we wanted to keep this news a private family matter for as long as possible. We can only hope that you will choose to celebrate Ronnie’s life, and what his music meant to you, rather than mourn his passing. Ronnie would have wanted it that way. He loved being a guitarist, a composer, a producer, and a creator of magic. He fully understood his gifts, and yet he constantly pushed himself to evolve, improve, and make better music. He did this for himself, and he did this for you, because he adored and appreciated his fans. Please keep his energy, his joy, and his love in your hearts.

Please note that there will be no more statements from the Montrose family at this time. We ask that you respect the family's privacy."

I'm shocked that Ronnie killed himself. That's just horrible. At the same time, I'm not too surprised. I read Sammy Hagar's autobiography a year ago. Sammy was almost painting this picture of an angry man who was an amazing guitar player. I think it was smart for Montrose's family to keep the cause of his death on the down low because people would've been dwelling on the fact that he killed himself instead of remembering Ronnie by listening to his music. 

RIP, Ronnie.