Former X Japan Bassist Taiji Sawada Dead at 45

Former X Japan bassist Taiji Sawada has died at the age of 45. He died Sunday, July 17, while in the hospital, after being removed from life support. Sawada left the band, which is massively popular in its native Japan but only making a go of it in America as we speak, in 1992 and went on to perform in Loudness and DTR in the aftermath.

The circumstances surrounding Sawada's death are as follows: He was arrested on July 11th and charged with allegedly assaulting a female member of a Delta Airline Flight 298 crew, which was en route to Saipan from Tokyo. He was charged with interfering with the employee's performance and was said to have punched the plane window and to have kicked the seat in front of him.

Sawada reportedly tried to kill himself on July 14th while he was being detained. He was rushed to the ICU after hanging himself with a bed sheet, an act which left him on life support. His mother and fiancée elected to remove him from artificial means and he passed at 11 Am on Sunday.

Watch 'Orgasm' from X Japan