Shaun Morgan

Shaun Morgan Welgemoed ([ˈveːl.χɐmut], born 21 December 1978), known publicly as Shaun Morgan, is a South African musician. He is the singer, songwriter, and guitarist for South African rock band Seether.

Shaun Morgan
Morgan performing with Seether in 2014
Background information
Birth nameShaun Morgan Welgemoed
Born (1978-12-21) 21 December 1978
OriginPietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • guitarist
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass
  • piano
Years active1999–present
Associated acts

Early life

Morgan spent all of his early life in Zimbabwe.[1] His parents divorced when he was still a child. Morgan is one of three children; he had a brother, Eugene, who took his own life in 2007, and a sister, Lucy. He was a student at Merchiston Preparatory School and Maritzburg College in Pietermaritzburg, where he became a prolific front-row rugby player for his age-group's top teams in his first three years of high school. In his third year of playing rugby, Morgan injured his back and was unable to play anymore, which then led to him following his passion of playing guitar.

At the age of 14, he discovered the Seattle grunge movement after listening to Nirvana's Nevermind album, which inspired him to become a musician.[1]

Career

Prior to forming the band Saron Gas, Morgan was a member of a tribute band, covering songs by musicians such as Creed and Tom Petty. In May 1999, the band Saron Gas was created.[2] They were originally a four-piece, but when the singer and guitarist did not turn up to the first practice, the band decided to stay as a three-piece, with Morgan on lead vocals and guitar.[2] Saron Gas enjoyed moderate success before the bass player decided to quit in January 2000, causing Morgan to get in touch with the only other good bass player he knew, Dale Stewart. The band released an album later that year, entitled Fragile.

In January 2002, they relocated to the United States to sign with Wind-up Records. During this time, the band's original drummer returned home to South Africa, whilst the two remaining members were left to think of a new band name, at the request of Wind-up. Eventually they settled on Seether, after the Veruca Salt song of the same name.[2] Around this time, Morgan decided to use his middle name as his last name professionally while performing for Seether because some Americans have a hard time pronouncing "Welgemoed". Seether went on to release their debut major-label album, Disclaimer, on 20 August 2002, which was remixed and rereleased as Disclaimer II with a few additional songs in 2004.

Since then, Seether has released five more studio albums: Karma and Effect (2005), Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces (2007), Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray (2011), Isolate and Medicate (2014), and Poison the Parish (2017). In addition, they released the live CD/DVD One Cold Night in 2006.

In 2013, Morgan collaborated with Hall of Fame band Lynyrd Skynyrd and guitarist John 5 on "Sad Song", a track that appeared on the special edition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's album Last of a Dyin' Breed.[3]

Bands that have influenced Morgan include Nirvana, Portishead, Silverchair, The Beatles, Metallica, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Mad Season, Rage Against the Machine, Black Sabbath, Korn, Soundgarden, Led Zeppelin, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Deftones.[4]

Equipment

Shaun Morgan was originally offered an endorsement and a signature model with PRS, but declined.[5] He became endorsed by Schecter Guitars early in his career and stayed with them until 2019. He now plays an Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay RS guitar.[6] As for amplifiers, he uses Mesa/Boogie amplifiers, specifically the Triple Rectifier.

Personal life

From 2003 to 2005, Morgan dated Evanescence singer Amy Lee.[7] Morgan checked into rehab in July 2006.[8][9] Lee wrote the song "Call Me When You're Sober" about her relationship with him.[10]

On 13 August 2007, Morgan's brother Eugene Welgemoed killed himself, just a few weeks before Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces was released. As the album was finished, there was no delay to its issue, but the record was dedicated to Eugene and featured a memorial. Eugene jumped to his death from an eighth-floor window of the Radisson Hotel in Rapid City, South Dakota shortly after midnight on Monday, 13 August 2007. According to police, no foul play was suspected in the death and it was ruled a suicide after an investigation.[11] Seether's song "Rise Above This" is a tribute to Eugene. Morgan has 1308 tattooed on his four right fingers, and 2007 on his four left fingers, marking the date his brother died.

Morgan has been awarded The National Council's 2016 Artistic Expression Impact Award of Excellence.

He is currently engaged to Jordan Kirby. They have a daughter named Lily. The family lives in Tennessee.[12]

Discography

Saron Gas
  • Fragile (1999)

Seether
Main article: Seether discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Digital albums

Collaborations
gollark: I could do better, I just haven't progressed that much.
gollark: qez: Your hacks are no match for my 50% increased speed, 6 extra health, 5% armour or something, short-range teleportation, and complete lack of a sword!
gollark: Well, laser bees aren't a standalone mod, we implement them using some weird cross-mod interactions.
gollark: Idea: be really inconsistent about what stuff *actually* costs a lot to make/is important/valuable, to trick people into damaging and stealing random useless stuff!
gollark: Well, the forcefield should get him anyway.

References
  1. Bottomley, C. Seether: South African Seattle, VH1, 6 March 2003. Accessed 25 March 2009.
  2. iTunes Originals - Seether
  3. "Lynyrd Skynyrd's Johnny Van Zant: 'Hopefully We'll Have Many, Many More Years Doing This'". Wardlaw, Matt; UltimateClassicRock.com. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  4. "Seether | Related Artists". MTV. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  5. http://seether-online.com/band-members/
  6. "Ernie Ball Music Man Blog".
  7. Harris, Chris. Seether Frontman Enters Rehab; August Tour Dates Canceled, VH1, 26 July 2006; accessed 25 March 2009.
  8. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1537141/seether-frontman-enters-rehab-tour-canceled.jhtml
  9. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2008-03-03/features/0802290207_1_shaun-morgan-evanescence-band
  10. Archive-Chris-Harris. "Evanescence Set For Fall Tour; Amy Lee Reveals Inspiration Behind 'Sober'". MTV News. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  11. Brown, Katie. Radisson suicide brother of Seether front man, Rapid City Journal, 16 August 2007; accessed 25 March 2009.
  12. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/throughbrokenroses/2017/08/23/interview-shaun-morgan-seether-suicide/
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