Mojo Nixon, the DIY rockabilly wildman who was a college radio star in the late-’80s and early-’90s, has died at age 66. Via a post on his official, he passed after a “cardiac event” aboard the 2024 Outlaw Country Cruise, “after a blazing show, a raging night, closing the bar, taking no prisoners + a good breakfast with bandmates and friends.” They added, “A cardiac event on the Outlaw Country Cruise is about right… & that’s just how he did it.”
Born Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. on August 2, 1957 and raised in the South, Mojo first gained fame in the early 1980s when he hooked up with drummer Skid Roper and their adrenalized, very satirical brand of rockabilly became a cult sensation, and singles like “Jesus at McDonalds,” “Stuffin Martha’s Muffin,” “Burn Down the Malls,” “Elvis is Everywhere,” “Don Henley Must Die,” and “Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Lovechild” (video starring Winona Ryder as Debbie) weren an antidote to the overblown ’80s and college radio hits. Enigma Records labelmates Dead Milkmen famously namechecked him in their hit “Punk Rock Girl” (“If you don’t got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin”).
Rest easy Mojo, hope you’re jamming with Elvis on a boat somewhere.
For more on his bodacious genius, watch The Mojo Manifesto: The Life & Times of Mojo Nixon available to rent on the streaming service of your choice. Watch the trailer below.