Hawthorne Heights
Photo: Wind-up Records

Hawthorne Heights haven't forgotten about last year's Fragile Future album, even if you have.

By most accounts, the band's third album — their first without guitarist Casey Calvert, who died of an accidental mixture of medications in November 2007 — was a disappointment. It failed to match the success of their first two efforts, The Silence in Black and White (which went gold) and If Only You Were Lonely (which debuted at #3 on the Billboard album charts).

Of course, the guys in Hawthorne Heights tend to view things a little differently.

"We don't view it as a failure. The entire process was very therapeutic, and we had to get it off our chest. For us, it's an incredible accomplishment," drummer Eron Bucciarelli told MTV News. "I mean, I guess we were a little surprised ... but when you mix the current climate of the industry with legal matters we had, you know, that's the reason why it didn't do that well. It would've been nice if it sold more, sure."

It's sort of easy now to see that Fragile Future was destined to fail. After all, in the year leading up to its release, HH were involved in a lengthy — and nasty — legal dispute with their label, Victory Records, one that they unexpectedly shelved so they could begin recording the album. Of course, when it came out, Victory wasn't all that interested in sinking tons of money into promoting it, and Future quickly sank into oblivion.

"The promo wasn't behind Fragile Future," Bucciarelli said. "I don't want to discredit [Victory founder] Tony [Brummel] and say he did nothing whatsoever. He put some money into it. ... But with our previous albums, he stuck with them throughout the whole process. ... Here, he got the record to a certain point, but he didn't continue with it.

"I guess I feel like it wasn't promoted as heavily as the first two records, and I can't say I don't understand the reasoning behind that," he continued. "It was our last record for Victory and had been through the wringer with lawsuit. So, at some point, they just decided it wasn't worth sinking more money into."

Early this year, Hawthorne announced on their Web site that they had signed with Wind-up Records and had begun working on a follow-up to Fragile Future. Since then, they've been spending time in New York writing and demoing, and they have plans to head out to Los Angeles to begin recording with producer Howard Benson.

Bucciarelli said that, ideally, they'd love to have the record out this year, but there's "no pressure" from anyone. Basically, HH are getting back to being a band, free of drama and bizarre expectations. But they'd be lying if they didn't feel like they've got something to prove this time around. To everyone.

"To be honest, it feels like we're starting over again, and it's sort of a liberating experience. There's no pressure to produce a massive, massive hit, no pressure to finish, to follow up the last record. We're focusing on the career of the band," he said. "But having said all that, we still have a lot to prove on this one. We want to prove to everybody — not just Tony and that label, but to everyone — that we're still here, we're still making good music ... that we're relevant."

• Hawthorne Heights Are Eager To Move Forward

• Casey Calvert Remembered By Hawthorne Heights And Family

• Hawthorne Heights

Hawthorne Heights
Photo: Ethan Miller/ Getty Images

It's been a pretty trying two years for Hawthorne Heights, to say the very least.

All the drama started back in March 2006, when the release of the band's second album, If Only You Were Lonely, was marred by a rather curious e-mail sent from HH's label, Victory Records, to street teamers, urging them to "relocate" copies of Ne-Yo's In My Own Words album in record stores in order to help Lonely claim the top spot on the Billboard albums chart. Hawthorne originally tried to laugh the whole situation off, saying that they had nothing to do with the e-mail — despite the fact that it was signed "Your friends, Hawthorne Heights" — and that it was just the label's way of "rallying the troops."

Of course, by August of that year, they had changed their tune, claiming that the Ne-Yo incident was just one of many reasons they were suing Victory to be released from their contract, a laundry list that also included charges of "abuse" and rather creative financing that left HH more than $1 million in debt to the label.

The following month, Victory countersued, accusing the guys of libel and saying they were trying to get out of their contract in order to sign a larger deal with Virgin Records. "The case filed by the plaintiffs ... is really about greed," Victory's lawyer told MTV News at the time.

And then, for the next year and a half, both sides were trapped in legal limbo. Hawthorne were legally forbidden to even enter a recording studio, so they just kept touring ... until one fateful night in November, when guitarist Casey Calvert was found dead on the band's tour bus outside the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.

It was after that tragedy — coupled with the months of grieving that followed — when things suddenly changed, according to Hawthorne drummer Eron Bucciarelli. Suddenly, the legal wrangling and conference calls with attorneys didn't seem as important as getting back to the business of being a band. That's why, beginning in early January, Hawthorne and Victory began the process of reconciling, a process that finally came to fruition Friday (June 6), when both sides announced that they had put their differences behind them and are working together once again.

"For about eight or nine months before Casey died, we had sort of naturally been heading towards reconciling with Victory. ... We all started to realize that we needed to end it," Bucciarelli told MTV News. "And once Casey passed away, it opened our eyes, and we realized that this lawsuit isn't important and it doesn't matter. It wasn't important to us to try and prove that we were right, so we decided to take our egos out of it, and it all sort of went from there."

So in April, just days before Hawthorne Heights took the stage for the first time since Calvert's passing at the Bamboozle Left festival, they decided to sit down with Victory CEO Tony Brummel and try to hammer out a deal. Bucciarelli said that he and his bandmates were expecting their former boss to drive a hard bargain, but softened by Calvert's death, the usually gruff Brummel was willing to talk — and listen.

"Casey's death was a traumatic experience, not just for us, but with Tony too. But when we sat down with him for the first time, we didn't know that, so we were expecting the worst. Like, maybe he'd pull a gun out and shoot us or something," Bucciarelli laughed. "But it was the best meeting we've had with him. We gained insight, we addressed the things that needed to be addressed, which was something we had stopped doing. When we were recording our second record, we were disgruntled, so we cut off a lot of communication, which is why a lot of the stuff happened in the first place."

As soon as the meeting was over, HH flew to Bamboozle, played and then took up residence in a Chico, California, studio to begin work on their new album. The process was lightning-quick, since they had been writing, rewriting and rehearsing the new songs for nearly nine months. Within six weeks, they had finished the record, which they're calling Fragile Future.

Bucciarelli calls it "the most focused and complete record we've ever made," a brooding and powerful outlook on everything Hawthorne have battled over the past two years, plus a little speculation on the future.

"That's why we decided to call it Fragile Future, because it's a reflection on everything we've been through. It was this period where we didn't know what would happen to us as a band, or as human beings," he said. "And when we lost Casey, it sort of reminded us that we're not invincible people. It shed light on how fragile people are ... and I think that if we could make it through, and patch things up with our old label, all of that proves that there's a lot of possibilities for the future too."

The album hits stores August 5, and Bucciarelli said that Hawthorne will be shooting a video for the first single, "Rescue Me," sometime over the next month. They don't plan to premiere the album online or do a ton of promotion in the weeks leading up to its release; rather, they just want people to judge the record on its merits and its message — which is sort of how the guys see themselves today. They've made it through the tough part; everything from here on out is golden.

"We know that people are going to say a bunch of stuff about us and about us returning to Victory, and to them, I would basically say that we were faced with a life-or-death situation with our career, and it was either go the way of the dinosaur in trying to prove our point or suck it up and get on with our careers," Bucciarelli said. "So we're hoping that people will respect everything we've gone through and the decisions we've had to make, and they'll have a listen to the record, and then they'll make their judgments. But really, we could care less. We're so excited just to be back."

• Hawthorne Heights

Hawthorne Heights at Bamboozle Left in Irvine, California
Photo: MTV News

It's been more than four months since Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert was found dead on his band's tour bus outside the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., and in that time, his bandmates have struggled mightily to come to grips with the loss of their friend and musical compatriot.

After Calvert's shocking death from an accidental drug interaction, being in Hawthorne Heights didn't seem all that important anymore. The remaining members — frontman JT Woodruff, drummer Eron Bucciarelli, bassist Matt Ridenour and guitarist Micah Carli — returned home to Ohio and stopped speaking to one another, retreating instead into the arms of their families and loved ones. It took them months to even think of picking up their instruments again, and when they finally did, something just wasn't right. Things just seemed different without Calvert there, cracking jokes and making up insane riffs on the spot.

"There was a period of time [after Calvert's death] where we did nothing and tried to wrap our minds around everything that had been going on," Bucciarelli told MTV News. "Each one of us took it a different way. It affected each of us differently. I personally wanted to jump in and start practicing; some of the other guys wanted to take a little bit more time. Everybody deals with stress in a different manner. And it took us awhile before we were able to start moving forward."

But though they were struggling, the thought of ending Hawthorne Heights never entered their minds. They had promised Calvert's mother they would go on. So when they took the stage on Sunday at the Bamboozle Left festival in Irvine, California, for their first show without Calvert, they did so with mixed emotions: equal parts sadness, nervousness and — to be frank — relief.

"Over the past couple months, we've just been picking up the pieces and trying to become a band again," Woodruff said. "And we're obviously not going to be like we were, but we've gotten a lot stronger and closer. And finally, we decided that it was time to play again. Because we want to remember what this was like, and see our fans and a bunch of our friends, and see the positives of the music community, and not the negatives we've been dealing with for a while now."

Those "negatives" are the rumors that persist in the wake of the D.C. medical examiner's findings that Calvert — who was, by all accounts, never an abuser of drugs — died of the combined effects of prescription drugs, brought on by "substance abuse." HH said that the report didn't give them any closure, and its rather vague wording has helped perpetuate the myth that Calvert was a drug addict.

"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you lost your friend, your friend is gone," Bucciarelli sighed. "People have been super-supportive throughout this, and that's really encouraging. It was nice to see the Internet rumor mill sort of quiet down a bit, and people just sort of focusing on the fact that somebody was lost, and it's unfortunate."

Obviously, they carried all of those emotions onto the Bamboozle stage, which is why that 30-minute set was one of the most important, and difficult, they've ever played.

"We've never done this before as a four-piece, so there's a lot of anxiety right now," Woodruff said, minutes before going onstage, but they managed to power through. And, most noticeably, they began the process of being a band again, performing three new songs: "Come Back Home," "Declaratory Judgment Day" and, at set's end, "Five Becomes Four," which was written in Calvert's memory.

"The last song we played is a song we're calling 'Five Becomes Four,' though we'll probably change the title. And it represents us losing Casey and how hard it is and how much he meant to us," Woodruff said. "It was a really hard song to play. It was hard to sing the words ... but I'm happy we played it and I'm happy our fans got to hear it."

After the show was done, they stood backstage and began to talk about something they haven't been able to discuss for a while now: What's next. They've been confirmed to appear on this summer's Projekt Revolution tour alongside headliners Linkin Park, and they're hoping finally to resolve their long-running lawsuit with their former label, Victory Records, so they can hit the studio and record the long-awaited follow-up to If Only You Were Lonely.

"We're never going to forget [Casey]," Woodruff said. "We've got the tattoos and everything. His sister just had a baby, in January, and the baby's name is Casey Grace, so he's always going to be there. And if anything good has come out of this, it's that we all reconnected with one another. On tour, one day blends into the next, and a lot of stuff gets lost. But now, when we go back out, we'll be energized and ready. We've been sitting at home long enough."

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Paramore's Hayley Williams performs at Bamboozle Left
Photo: Noel Vasquez/ Getty Images

IRVINE, California — The second-annual Bamboozle Left rolled into Southern California over the weekend, bringing some big names and fresh new talent with it.

One of the biggest draws of the two-day fest was Paramore, who attracted throngs of fans to their stage on Saturday. Just before the lights went up, a low rumble of "Par-a-more" arose from the crowd and dissolved into screams as the lights went up and Hayley Williams bounced onstage. The pint-size rock star with the larger-than-life voice rambunctiously jumped around the stage, with her fire-engine-red hair flailing around her. Fans ate up the performance, singing along and duplicating her moves.

Seconds after Paramore finished their set, current tourmates Jimmy Eat World took to the stage. As the guys burst into their hit "Sweetness" from the 2001 album Bleed American, the crowd joined in with every cry of "Are you listening? Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh." The group boasted the biggest and most age-diverse crowd of the festival by far.

The All-American Rejects and their ever-so-animated frontman, Tyson Ritter, closed out Saturday night by calling the Bamboozle fans "the hoodie generation." He then commanded that the crowd put their hoods up. Almost instantly, the crowd transformed from an endless array of hairstyles into a sea of black, white and grey dots. Ritter then debuted a new acoustic song called "Mona Lisa," which the guys joked before the set would be leaked onto YouTube by Sunday. The song will be part of their new album, which they are hoping to debut in September. The album has not yet been named, but the band assures that it will not be called Remember Us, as was reported in the Bamboozle program.

Pop-punk band the Audition were a crowd-pleasing favorite on Saturday too, as their soulful undertones and on-point performance transformed the audience's typical mosh-pit moves into the writhing body movements of lead singer Danny Stevens.

Hawthorne Heights took the stage Sunday afternoon for their first show since the accidental death of guitarist Casey Calvert in November. Calvert died due to a mixture of prescribed antidepressants and anxiety and pain medications. Fans wore "In Loving Memory of Casey Calvert" T-shirts in support of Hawthorne Heights, who thanked them for their well-wishes and played a song in Casey's memory. After the set, fans lined up to meet the band and expressed their condolences and encouragement in person.

While Bamboozle Left marked the first show back for Hawthorne Heights, it marked the last for My Chemical Romance. After spending the past two years on tour promoting The Black Parade, MCR are overdue for a break and a new album. They played the final set of the festival and gave concertgoers something to remember. As the band began to play the title track from Parade, the stage went black with a spotlight on lead singer Gerard Way, who acted as a conductor of the audience. The crowd sang the entire first verse without missing a beat.

With tens of thousands of people and a handful of rock bands playing, there was rarely a quiet moment, but Escape the Fate frontman Craig Mabbitt definitely silenced the crowd Sunday afternoon. In the middle of the set, Mabbitt dropped his mic, climbed the light tower 20 feet in the air and threw himself backward into the crowd. The crowd gasped, then going silent with confusion, shock and worry. Mabbitt's bandmates continued to play as the fans awaited his fate. After what seemed like several minutes, Mabbitt finally emerged from the crowd seemingly uninjured and finished the set as two stripper-esque dancers joined him onstage.

Jeffree Star transformed his stage into a West Hollywood rave on Sunday night. The audience watched wide-eyed and completely transfixed as the 6-foot-tall, pink-haired cross-dresser pranced around the stage in black booty shorts and 5-inch stilettos. Star definitely had the most controversial and original performance of the festival.

Planning on going to any big music fests this year? Be sure to join the You R Here community, where you can upload your concert photos, videos and reviews.

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Zac Efron
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Zac Efron is doing fine after having his appendix removed Tuesday (January 15), according to People.com. The star — who recently signed on for "High School Musical 3" — was rushed to Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering from appendicitis, TMZ.com reports. "Zac had his appendix removed and is recuperating," the actor's representative, who was not named, reportedly said in a statement. ...

A very revealing photo of Heidi Montag graces the new cover of Maxim, and for the accompanying interview, she also revealed to the mag that she wants to be the next Madonna. "But it's not like with most pop artists, where they have a song sent to them that has nothing to do with their emotions or lives," she insisted about her yet-untitled, in-the-works LP. "It's all about me and my life. I'm taking my time to make sure it's a classic. I don't want to be the next pop person who's in or out. I want to be like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Stevie Wonder — all the greats." Montag also dished on new parents Nicole Richie and Joel Madden recalling that one time they "came up to [Montag's fiance,] Spencer [Pratt,] and me at the Beverly Hills Hotel [in California] and started yelling something Spencer said about Nicole in an interview, like, two years ago. ... Joel was yelling, 'You've been talking sh-- about my girl!' " ...

Madden has blogged on the Web site for his clothing company, DCMA, about arriving home with his and Richie's daughter, who was born on Friday. "Well I am finally home with my beautiful girlfriend and our brand new little daughter," the Good Charlotte frontman wrote. "Harlow Winter Kate Madden was born on January 11th 2008 at 3:13 p.m. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 7 ounces. She is 19 inches long and growing everyday already! She really is a wonderful addition to the GC/DCMA/DEADEXEC family. We are so blessed to have this beautiful little baby in our lives. I want to thank everyone for all the love and kind words they've sent our way. We apologize we weren't accepting gifts/cards/calls at the hospital, but if you'd like to send something, we'd rather you make a donation to the Richie-Madden Foundation, which we started in Harlow Winter's honor. She looks so much like her mom it's crazy! She eats like a little maniac and she's really sweet. She barely ever cries, even when daddy is changing her diaper, and believe me I suck when it comes to diapers, but I'm learning! I can't wait to show off some pictures, until then, THANKS!! and GOD BLESS... Joel." ...

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Twista has inked a deal with Koch to release a project with his longtime group, the Speedknot Mobstaz. The Mobstaz's forthcoming sophomore album, Mobstability II: Nation Bizness, is set to feature Jim Jones and production by Cuzzo and China White Productions. ... The Grammys will not be getting a free pass from the Writers Guild of America. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Grammys have not asked for a special waiver to allow striking Guild employees to work on the show, but even if they did request one, it would not likely be granted. In addition, a number of top musicians who also have Screen Actors Guild cards, including Justin Timberlake and Queen Latifah, are being lobbied by the WGA not to attend the February 10 show, according to AdAge.com. ...

In a $35 million lawsuit filed on Monday, Victory Records claimed that Virgin/EMI "improperly induced" Hawthorne Heights to disregard their contract with the independent Chicago label. In a news release on the suit, Victory also claimed that Virgin/EMI paid $55,000 to the band, which used the money to fund the initial phase of a 2006 lawsuit against Victory, and helped the bandmembers search for a music-industry lawyer to help them with their legal action. "The facts alleged in this case demonstrate classic interference with contractual and business relations," Victory lawyer Robert Meloni said. "They did more than merely offer a carrot to the band, but also saddled the horse, paid for a rider to take the reins, and led it out of the barn." The suit seeks $10 million in compensation and $25 million in punitive damages for Virgin/EMI's "willful, wanton and deliberate conduct." Victory maintains that HH owe the label two more albums, but the band, which lost guitarist Casey Calvert in November after a fatal drug interaction, has vowed not to record for Victory again. ...

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EMI — home to Coldplay, the Rolling Stones and other acts — will slash a third of its work force, or 1,500-2,000 jobs, over the course of the next months, multiple outlets reported Tuesday. According to the Web site for England's Telegraph, the reunited Verve could be the next major group to withhold its upcoming album in light of the major-label shake-up. The paper reports that the Verve may join Robbie Williams and Coldplay in threatening to hold onto their next albums unless they receive assurances about the company's financial health and how their albums will be marketed. The company's new boss, Guy Hands, was reportedly to be grilled by the managers of some of the label's top acts on Tuesday as he revealed plans for streamlining the company. ...

"American Idol" judge Randy Jackson is known for name-dropping, but his new album, Music Club Vol. 1, might finally back up some of his boasting. Jackson's upcoming solo album, due March 11, will feature pals ranging from Mariah Carey and Joss Stone to Jason Mraz, former "Idol" contestants Elliott Yamin and Katharine McPhee and country star Travis Tritt. Fellow judge Paula Abdul will be featured on "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow," her first new recording in more than a decade. Last week, TVGuide.com reported that Jackson and Abdul had been rehearsing a video for the single, and that she was in talks to perform it at the Super Bowl on February 3. Also included on the album are Van Hunt, Three 6 Mafia, Angie Stone, Richie Sambora and Keb' Mo'. ...

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1.14.08

Nearly six years after the alleged sex tape first surfaced, the court proceedings in the R. Kelly case continue to move at a snail's pace. The prosecutors originally sought to have testimony from one expert witness, Dr. Sharon Cooper, cover several different areas — the age of the girl on the tape based on forensic pediatrics, the identification of the man on the tape based on the vein pattern on his hands, and the behavior profile of the girl based on the psychology of child sex-abuse victims. Judge Vincent Gaughan had previously ruled that Dr. Cooper could testify about the victim's age, but not the behavior profile, so prosecutors had asked him to reconsider. At a hearing on Monday (January 14), Gaughan ruled once again that Dr. Cooper would not be able to testify about why the girl in the case would deny that she was a victim, or how common denial is in sex-abuse cases. Kelly is due back in court March 12 for another pre-trial hearing, while the trial itself is slated to start on May 9. ...

And the Wu-Tang Clan infighting goes on. U-God — who complained about RZA being callous toward him in the studio nearly four years ago — is now suing Wu's label, alleging that he is owed $170,000, according to TMZ.com. U-God (born Lamont Hawkins) reportedly filed papers in a New York district court, alleging that Wu Music owes him money for services rendered dating back to March of last year. Wu Music is licensed to Universal Music. ...

Paula Abdul doesn't just have the seventh season of "American Idol" on her mind these days. "I want kids!" the singer recently told Ladies' Home Journal for its February issue. "If it doesn't happen naturally, I can always adopt." The 45-year-old Abdul opened up even more about her personal life, saying of 32-year-old boyfriend J.T. Torregiani, "I've experienced real loneliness, so I love knowing there's someone I can share the good and the not-so-good with." ... Everyone's wondering how the seventh season of "Idol" is going to fare in light of some retooling and the writers' strike, but if you ask Chris Daughtry, the show is "in a state of decline." The Daughtry frontman recently spoke with RollingStone.com about the show, adding that if it doesn't right itself, "it's probably not gonna last too much longer. I'm sure that'll be used against me, but that's the truth, you know?" He also said the show is "definitely lacking some credibility at this point." ...

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Björk attacked a newspaper photographer who was attempting to take her picture at the Auckland International Airport on Sunday, according to reports in the New Zealand press. The singer, who was flying in to perform at the Big Day Out concert on Friday, reportedly ripped New Zealand Herald photographer Glenn Jeffrey's shirt after he snapped a photo of her. Jeffrey told the New Zealand Press Association that he was warned by a man traveling with Björk not to take her picture, and once he did, the singer came up behind him, grabbed the back of his shirt and tore it before tumbling to the ground. In 1996, Björk attacked a reporter in an airport in Bangkok, Thailand, after she objected to being photographed. ... The Walkmen and White Rabbits will hop along the U.S. this month for nine shows. On the itinerary are Pittsburgh (Wednesday); Detroit (Thursday); Milwaukee (Friday); Madison, Wisconsin (Saturday); Chicago (Sunday); St. Louis (January 21); Columbus, Ohio (January 22); Philadelphia (January 23); and Baltimore (January 24). ...

For the first time in 25 years, former Clash members Mick Jones and Topper Headon reportedly shared the same stage at a gig by Jones' new band, Carbon/Silicon. The duo performed "Train in Vain" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" during the set. ... Megadeth have recruited Chris Broderick (Nevermore, Jag Panzer) to be their newest guitarist, following the recent departure of Glen Drover. Broderick will make his live debut with the band on February 4, at a gig in Finland. ...

Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali said the band will not be revived following the late November death of frontman Kevin DuBrow. In an online statement, Banali claims he had been "approached to see if I would be interested in contacting Rudy Sarzo and Carlos Cavazo and to audition singers for Quiet Riot." He said that he's even fielded an offer to re-form "the version of Quiet Riot that included Paul Shortino, Carlos Cavazo and Sean McNabb." But Banali rejected any suggestions of the band performing live. "My friendship, love and respect for Kevin DuBrow, as well as my personal love and affection for Kevin's mother and his family, makes it inconceivable for me to ever entertain any ovation to re-form or to continue Quiet Riot," he wrote. "It would also be a disrespect to the fans who have supported [the band] for nearly 25 years." ...

Roger Avary, the Oscar-winning co-writer of "Pulp Fiction," was arrested on Sunday after a fatal single-car crash in Ojai, California. According to a Reuters report, Avary, 42, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence, and was released from jail after posting $50,000 bail. Andreas Zedini, a 34-year-old passenger in the car, died of his injuries at a local hospital. Avary's wife, Gretchen, 40, was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries after being thrown from the car.

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Photo: Darren McCollester/Getty Images

By all accounts, Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert led a remarkable life. He toured the world with his compatriots, influenced many with his music, and touched people with his kind heart and seemingly boundless energy.

But, throughout his 26 years, there was one thing that wasn't as exceptional: a lifelong battle with depression.

More than 10 million Americans take some form of prescribed antidepressant medication, a number that has nearly tripled over the past 20 years and appears to show no signs of decreasing anytime soon.

According to data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the more than 2.4 billion drugs prescribed in 2005 — the latest year for which data was available — more than 118 million were for antidepressants. And a study by IMS Health, a provider of market information to the pharmaceutical industry, reported that U.S. prescription-drug sales rose 8.3 percent to a staggering $274.9 billion last year, while the total number of prescriptions dispensed rose 4.6 percent. The majority of that bump was due to "six large, highly utilized classes [of medication,] including antidepressants, antipsychotics [and] anticonvulsants" that "comprised nearly one-fifth of U.S. pharmaceutical sales in 2006," the report states.

Calvert contributed to that number. At the time of his death, he was taking two of those classes of medication: citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant, also known by the brand name Celexa; and clonazepam, a benzodiazepine-derived anticonvulsant, brand name Klonopin. However, by his bandmates' admission, the number of medications he was taking appeared to be in a near-constant state of flux.

"Casey wrestled with depression for as long as we knew him," drummer Eron Bucciarelli said in a statement. "He saw numerous doctors and took an ever-changing array of medicines to get better. He finally had his depression under control [before he died]."

That Calvert was taking more than one of these six classes of medication was not all that unusual. Dr. Carl Salzman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, told MTV News that both citalopram and clonazepam are "both very popular and both very commonly prescribed, often in conjunction with the other."

"You can't die by taking either of these drugs alone," Salzman said. "The problem comes when [patients] are taking them in mixtures or with alcohol — or if they are taken in higher levels. Then they can become dangerous."

And unfortunately, though interaction between two of the meds Calvert was prescribed — the clonazepam and Vicodin, which he was prescribed after undergoing a root canal — is rarely deadly, such incidents are on the rise. A report earlier this year by the CDC found that deaths from accidental drug interactions rose 68 percent between 1999 and 2004, making the problem the second-leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., behind only automobile accidents. The deaths of both R&B singer Gerald Levert and Anna Nicole Smith were attributed to accidental interactions between painkillers and antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications.

"Prescription drugs, especially prescription painkillers, are driving the prolonged increase [in fatal interactions]," the report said.

But considering how many people take antidepressants, the percentage of accidental-interaction deaths still remains relatively low — 20,000 people died from accidental interactions in 2004. And even lower still were the odds that an interaction between clonazepam and Vicodin would be the cause of death.

"Cases like Calvert's are so rare that they're almost nonexistent. It's so rare that you can't even put a number on it," Dr. John Mendelson, a pharmacologist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, told MTV News. "I mean, it's difficult to find someone these days who isn't taking some sort of medication, and deaths rarely occur. In older antidepressants, there was a large amount of cardiac toxicity, but with the meds we have today — Prozac or Effexor or Celexa — you can take 100 times the recommended amount and not overdose.

"In the case of this situation, it's just not a well-publicized problem, so to sit there and try to say, 'Well, the [Food and Drug Administration] should step in and pull this drug off the market,' or, 'The manufacturer should have a warning on the label,' that's just impossible," he continued. "So many people are taking these drugs, and sometimes the side effects are so minimal — one in 100,000 or something — that it's never going to be possible to list every possible side effect or interaction. You can't do it."

A spokesperson for the FDA told MTV News that drug-labeling information is owned and provided by the pharmaceutical companies, though that information must be approved by the FDA before the drug can be made available to the public. All antidepressant drugs come with a patient medication guide, to be given out at the pharmacy with the medicine.

Roche Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures clonazepam under the name of Klonopin in the U.S., provided MTV News with the labeling information that comes with the drug. In its 17 pages, opioids like Vicodin are not specifically mentioned, though the pamphlet does warn that patients "should be advised to inform their physicians if they are taking, or plan to take, any prescription or over-the-counter drugs, since there is a potential for interactions."

It's not known whether Calvert ever informed the doctor who prescribed him the Vicodin that he was also taking clonazepam. Even if he did, it's not certain that the combination of the two medications is what killed him (Mendelson speculated that his death was probably due to an arrhythmia). But with millions already taking prescription antidepressants and anti-anxietals — and millions more sure to be joining those ranks soon — should we be worried that we'll soon see more cases like Calvert's? And should we rethink the way we treat the very real disease of depression?

"I don't think you'll ever see an increase in cases like [Calvert's], and the issue of accidental interactions is really up to the patient to reveal to his or her doctor. Today we have relatively safe, nontoxic tools to treat depression, so the issue is, are we detecting more cases and offering treatment for more things, or is there more depression out there?" he continued. "I think, over time, young people have always struggled with post-adolescent angst, and a lot of that does represent clinical depression. ... I mean, 'Hamlet' is a story of depressed teenagers. The debate today is whether or not we'd give Hamlet Prozac, or whether we'd allow him to be a normal, depressed teenager."

• Hawthorne Heights And Family Remember Casey Calvert

• Casey Calvert Remembered By Hawthorne Heights And Family
• Hawthorne Heights' Casey Calvert Photos

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Fergie on the January/February cover of <i>Blender</i> magazine
Photo: Wayne Maser

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Hawthorne Heights frontman JT Woodruff will participate in a conversation at an event being staged in memory of fallen bandmate Casey Calvert. The late guitarist's favorite charity, To Write Love on Her Arms — a group aimed at helping teens at risk for suicide — will put on "Heavy and Light: An Evening of Songs, Conversation and Hope" on December 29 in Orlando, Florida. The event will also feature acoustic performances by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus singer Ronnie Winter; Aaron Gillespie (Underoath, the Almost); Josh Moore; and Bayside frontman Anthony Ranieri. In related news, Ranieri has mapped out a series of 10 additional solo acoustic shows that will happen before and after the TWLOHA benefit. He will play Wednesday in San Francisco; Friday in Anaheim, California; and then perform a handful of more shows from January 11 in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, through January 19 in Troy, New York. ...

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Hawthorne Heights' Casey Calvert
Photo: Jason Campbell

Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert died due to the "acute combined effects of opiate, citalopram and clonazepam intoxication," according to the results of an autopsy released Monday (December 17) by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Washington, D.C. He was found dead in the band's tour bus outside the 9:30 club in the city on November 24.

The autopsy listed Calvert's death as accidental, though a spokesperson for the chief medical examiner added that it was brought on due to "substance abuse." The opiate referred to in the report wasn't specified, but often, any drug that acts on cell receptors — including strong prescription pain relievers such as fentanyl or oxycodone — are referred to as "opiates" or sometimes "opoids." Both citalopram (also known by the brand name Celexa) and clonazepam (also known by the brand names Klonopin and Rivotril) are prescription drugs, the former an antidepressant and the latter used to treat seizure disorders and panic attacks.

A spokesperson for the medical examiner's office declined MTV News' request to elaborate on the results of the autopsy.

When MTV News spoke to Calvert's wife, Ashley, last month, she mentioned that he had suffered from depression but emphasized that "it was under control ... he was on medication for it, [but] nothing that he would abuse or anything like that."

"Something could've been wrong, he could've been in pain and he didn't want to tell anybody," she continued. "He always seemed completely healthy. I've known him for five years, and there's no way he was doing any kind of drug that would be considered illegal that a person could overdose on. I know my husband, and my husband wouldn't do that. He just wouldn't."

In the same interview, Calvert's bandmates stressed that the guitarist didn't abuse drugs at all, with frontman JT Woodruff saying, "We're in a rock band, and there's this stigma that comes along with it, and we don't do any of that stuff. If you asked anybody who's met us or toured with us, they'll tell you they've never seen us do that stuff. We concentrate on playing shows and having a good time, and so did Casey."

And on Monday, as news of the autopsy began to spread, drummer Eron Bucciarelli issued a statement reiterating that stance but acknowledging that Calvert had long battled depression, and that they had suspected that their guitarist had died from complications due to an "ever-changing array of medicines to get better."

"From the time of the incident, we suspected a possible drug interaction as the cause," the statement reads in part. "Casey wrestled with depression for as long as we knew him. He saw numerous doctors and took an ever-changing array of medicines to get better. He finally had his depression under control."

The statement also took issue with the medical examiner's spokesperson's use of the phrase "substance abuse," and the negative connotations it can carry.

"According to the toxicology report, the cause of death was due to a fatal interaction between depression meds, anxiety meds and an opiate ... Opiates being mentioned along with the term 'substance abuse,' coupled with 'rock star' stereotypes immediately conjure up images of hard drug use and addiction, which simply couldn't be further from the truth in Casey's instance," the statement continues. "What the toxicology report doesn't show is that prior to us leaving for tour, Casey had a root canal and was prescribed Vicodin for the pain. Once again, Casey was not involved in anything illegal, nor was he a substance abuser."

It's not immediately clear why Calvert was prescribed Vicodin, given that he was already taking clonazepam. Mixing Vicodin — an opiate — with clonazepam is "a known risk," though most doctors would not be aware of a patient taking any opiate unless that patient made it abundantly clear, according to Dr. John Mendelson, a pharmacologist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute.

"Most doctors will not get a urine toxicology as part their routine diagnosis, which is how you detect opiates," he told MTV News on Monday. "If you come to me and say you're anxious and depressed, we give you clonazepam and would caution [you] about doing some opiates. Over the years, there have been several overdoses caused by mixing an opiate with a drug of the benzodiazepine class, which clonazepam is. The mixture synergistically impairs your ability to manage your airway.

"It sounds to me like he took a few extra Vicodins on top of his clonazepam and lost the ability to manage his airway, perhaps choked on his own secretions," Mendelson continued. "And it's a risk to combine substantial opiate doses with benzo doses, but it's also a rare one. To be honest, it just may [have been] bad luck. ... It's exceedingly rare that 26-years-olds die of anything medical. This kind of death is one in several million."

[This story was originally published at 1:44 p.m. ET on 12.17.2007]

• Hawthorne Heights And Family Remember Casey Calvert

• Casey Calvert Remembered By Hawthorne Heights And Family

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Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

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Hawthorne Heights' Matt Ridenour displays his tattoo honoring Casey Calvert
Photo: MTV News

After spending 48 hours being numb, Hawthorne Heights bassist Matt Ridenour finally decided that it was time to pay tribute to Casey Calvert, his fallen bandmate and best friend, whose body was discovered on the band's tour bus outside the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., over the weekend. So he got a tattoo on his right leg, one he was sure Calvert would have approved of.

"I got this," he smiled, rolling up his pant leg to reveal some fresh ink. "It's a grilled cheese and a Dr. Pepper, because that was his diet of choice, and '9:30' because that's the club where this all happened. And around it, it says, 'A piece of American History,' because that was something [Casey] said onstage once, in Texas, during his birthday.

"I saw him every day for five years, and then I took two days off," he added, pausing slightly. "And now I got this tattoo, so I'll be able to see him every day for the rest of my life."

It's a fitting way to honor Calvert, a guy described by everyone who knew him as a kindhearted, sweet kid who enjoyed making people laugh and wasn't afraid to look dumb in the process. It's so fitting, in fact, that all the guys in Hawthorne Heights plan on inking themselves up too so they'll never forget their "quirky, awesome" friend and compatriot.

"He was the silliest, most ridiculous person I've ever met. You'd look at him and smile," Hawthorne frontman JT Woodruff said. "One thing that was awesome about Casey — and all of us — is that we don't have any enemies. We always make friends with all these bands. And he was so liked by everyone."

"How outgoing and friendly he was. Everybody liked him. Even if they didn't like our band, they liked him," drummer Eron Bucciarelli added. "Casey was a little different. He was on the same level with the kids we'd play in front of. Something about the way he was wired. He was just a big kid."

As it turned out, Calvert was a kid in every aspect, as MTV News found out when the guitarist's widow, Ashley, welcomed us into their home in suburban Hamilton, Ohio, on Wednesday night. He loved anime, toys and animals, and when he's buried on Thursday (November 29), it won't be in a suit, but rather in his newest Kid Robot hoodie. And this is the innocence that his bandmates are trying so hard to protect. That's why, hours after discovering his body, they released a statement reiterating the fact that Calvert's death was unexpected — but of natural causes and not due to a drug overdose, as some would probably assume.

"We wanted Casey to be remembered in a positive way, and there's already a lot of stuff swirling around on the Internet. And he needs to be remembered in a better light than I think things are progressing towards right now," Bucciarelli said. "When you pass away that young, people automatically think there has to be a reason — there has to be something, like an illegal substance or drinking or something like that. And we didn't want people wandering off in different directions that weren't fitting of his character."

"Nobody knows [the cause of death] yet, so anything you read and anything you hear is inaccurate. So we're just kind of waiting and remembering. He was a great guy — never did anything wrong, never did anything illegal — so that's why it was such a shock," Woodruff added. "We're in a rock band, and there's this stigma that comes along with it, and we don't do any of that stuff. If you asked anybody who's met us or toured with us, they'll tell you they've never seen us do that stuff. We concentrate on playing shows and having a good time, and so did Casey. So we didn't want any of that to even be an option for somebody to think about."

Protecting Calvert's reputation is obviously important, but so is providing for his wife and prolonging his musical legacy. That's why the guys contacted his favorite charity, To Write Love on Her Arms, about designing a T-shirt in his memory, with all proceeds going to Ashley. And it's why they maintain that they didn't even think about calling it quits after Calvert's death, and why they'll always continue to count Calvert as a member of Hawthorne Heights.

"The day after this happened, we were on the bus driving home from D.C., and [Casey's] mother called and requested to speak to each of us individually," guitarist Micah Carli said. "And she made it a point to tell each of us that she insisted we keep going. And she said, 'It's what Casey would've wanted.' "

"We won't add another guitar player or add another screamer," Woodruff added. "We'll figure out what we want to do — as the four of us and with Casey along with us. In our albums, it'll always say 'Casey Calvert: guitar/vocals.' "

And though they'll always grieve for Calvert, Hawthorne say they were better people for having known him. He was by all accounts a wondrous, lighthearted soul — something that's obvious when they speak about their last memories of him. Because, as they pointed out, those will last a lot longer than any tattoo ever could.

"The night before he died, we had just left Detroit, on the way to D.C., and everybody was up in the front lounge, laughing and talking and joking," Carli said. "He was being hysterical — we took some video footage of him trying to sing the theme song from the 'Aladdin' movie — and that was about 2 in the morning, and we called it quits and decided to go to bed."

"He was tired but decided he wasn't going to go to sleep, and for once, I went to sleep before him, which generally wasn't the case. And I remember he went to his bunk and opened up my curtain, which I don't think he'd ever done, and said, 'Hey, I'm finally going to sleep.' " Ridenour said. "And I was like, 'All right, well you need to go to sleep, because you're tired,' and he said, 'All right, well, good night.' And I don't think I'd ever said good night to him, and he'd never said good night to me. It was just this weird thing, but I'm glad it happened."

• Hawthorne Heights And Family Remember Casey Calvert

• Casey Calvert Remembered By Hawthorne Heights And Family
• Hawthorne Heights' Casey Calvert Photos

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