Michael Reaves, guitarist for the now defunct alternative metal band Full Devil Jacket, lost his battle with cancer yesterday at the age of 52.

 According to the Jackson Sun; Michael Reaves was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the spring of 2010. Shortly after the diagnosis, the members of Full Devil Jacket re-formed to play a benefit concert for him to help with medical expenses. After over a year of battling the disease, Reaves passed away yesterday (7/25/11) at the age of 52.

Full Devil Jacket, initially called Voodoo Hippies,  released their first EP 'A Waxbox To Put Your Frankenstein Head In' in October of 1999. They went on to achieve moderate success touring with bands like Nickelback, Slipknot, Slayer, and Stone Temple Pilots. They also performed at Woodstock 99 and their self-titled LP quickly went gold. The band split after singer Josh Brown had a heroin overdose while on the road with Creed. Years later, Josh went on to start the band Day of Fire and is now in A New Rebel with all of the members of FDJ minus Reaves of course.

Full Devil Jacket bassist Kevin Bebout said of his fallen bandmate:

"Mike was one of the absolute funniest people you'd ever met. He was just so great to work with. He'd come up with a great guitar lick or solo. He'd run riffs for days. The best thing about working with him, though, was even when we hated each other, we always laughed with each other. It was always a comedy. Ask anyone, he was the funniest guy they knew." 

The band also posted this farewell message on their Facebook page:

"Words cannot express how we feel right now. Our hearts are heavy with the loss of Mike and our prayers go out to all of his family and friends. We will miss you greatly brother..."

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