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00:05they hitched a reggae groove to hip-hop and underground punk and turned the
00:10California dream on its head sublime is the Beach Boys on crack they combine the
00:15beauty with the horror if it wasn't for date rape I'd never get laid we're not trying to write punk
00:25rock
00:25not trying to write reggae just trying to write a good song led by a Long Beach rebel named Brad
00:33Noll sublime did everything they could to sabotage their own success and that punk rock attitude
00:45they didn't want to kiss anyone's butts show up late was a given show up drunk was a given I'm
00:51so
00:51stunned they were rebels and they were real rock and roll in that way one step forward two steps
01:01back is like the theme of the existence of sublime for sublime's lead singer self-destruction took the
01:10form of a heroin habit he had a love affair with his music and the drugs combined heroin
01:16addiction is not like any other addiction and he wasn't strong enough to fight it ultimately it killed
01:23him he said that Brad was dad
01:32that's I'll never forget the moment he's gone man that's that and the story
01:43Jacob won't ever have any memories of his dad won't know his dad and that's the saddest thing
01:52just weeks after Brad's death sublime released the album that would break them
02:00it became an instant classic and a bittersweet tribute to lost potential this was a seminal
02:06band they were that good they were that innovative people critically don't think of Brad in terms of
02:12the Jim Morrison's and the Kurt Cobain's but they will now the fall and rise of the band that
02:23always pushed it too far it's an ultimate rock and roll story they're just classic rock and roll
02:28those it's trash the whole place sublime the story behind the music
02:34horrific yeah
02:39come on buddy
02:55thank you
03:03in the spring of 1996 Bradley Noel was living the good life I think he probably was happier than
03:10he'd ever been he was just glowing he was at a really good point then I just seemed healthy
03:15he'd been surfing all the time it was really good times
03:19I got a damnation that I could stick in the light I couldn't play the guitar like a mower
03:27you're right
03:30Brad's band sublime was set to release their major label debut and they were on the verge of breaking big
03:36the shows were just going great you know the kids were just eating it up and really really anticipating the
03:41release of the album
03:42we thought we were going to be off the charts you know we're gonna do videos the rest of our
03:46lives
03:46and keep writing songs till the day we die pretty much been doing it since we were 13 right
03:52how are we gonna stop now right
03:59Brad had just married his girlfriend Troy and they were living in a house along the southern California coast
04:04with her baby son Jacob
04:11he was so open about his love it just poured out of him I mean Jacob he just could not
04:16love enough
04:17I was ecstatic I mean he loved that boy and he loved the fact that he was a dad
04:26after five years of struggling through rehabs and relapses it looked like Bradley had finally beaten his addiction to heroin
04:35but as the band headed out on tour in May of 1996 old temptations returned Bradley
04:42Knoll relapsed and overdosed in a motel room
04:49he was dead at the age of 28
04:52it was just devastating you know it was something that you kind of try and prepare for
05:00but you can never be prepared for something like that you know somebody that you care about so much
05:07you love so much
05:08everybody talks about grief and how you can get through it and all that kind of stuff
05:12but the fact is you don't
05:15there's just some things that you have to live with in life in there
05:18and it uh
05:22there's no way to get over it
05:37bradley knowns life started out like the fabled California dream
05:41on the outside it looked like perfect family and for a lot of the years it was
05:45Brad and his sister Kelly grew up surfing and sailing on the beaches of suburban Orange County.
05:51He was an active little kid. He liked to surf.
05:54And we had a sailboat that we raced.
06:00He was very emotional, very sensitive, very artistic, but he was needy.
06:07As Brad grew, he became a difficult child who was bored by school and disruptive.
06:12He had a tension deficit, and he would just bounce off the walls and couldn't concentrate on anything too long.
06:18He was always testing, just to see what he could get away with, how far he could push, and I
06:24learned to be real frustrated.
06:26Brad's rebellious behavior only intensified when his parents divorced in 1978.
06:33His mother was awarded custody, but she found the 10-year-old too difficult to control on her own.
06:39He was a tough kid to handle, and she was always calling me and saying, come get him.
06:43Brad began spending more and more time with his dad.
06:50And in the summer of 79, they solidified their bond with a sailing trip around the Virgin Islands.
06:59The father and son spent a month touring the bars and beaches of the Caribbean.
07:03That's where Brad got his first taste of reggae music.
07:13Bob Marley was huge down there at the time, so when he came back, he could not only play it,
07:19but he really enjoyed it.
07:23When Brad was 12, he moved in full-time with his dad in Long Beach and started focusing on music.
07:29He learned guitar and jam with neighborhood kids all through his teens.
07:33We grew up on the alley living across from each other, and started playing music when we were about 12,
07:40I guess.
07:40In 1987, Brad formed a band with Eric Wilson on bass and Bud Gaw on drums.
07:51It was like magic, you know.
07:52It was like, wow, cool, finally somebody that can play guitar and sing, you know.
07:57So we really vibed really well.
07:59We practiced every day for like three, four hours we'd be up there.
08:04We'd like friends, neighbors, whoever that we knew to come upstairs and hear any band.
08:14Welcome to my house, friends and neighbors.
08:17They called their new group sublime.
08:19The neighbors called it disturbing the peace.
08:23Down here at the beach, all the homes are six feet apart, and they'd play in the garage.
08:27I had neighbors mad at me everywhere we lived.
08:37We'd play anywhere, anytime, for anything, for any reason.
08:42You had to have sublime play your party if, A, you wanted it to be out of hand, B, you
08:48wanted a mass amount of people to come.
08:51So we were constantly getting numbered by the cops and stuff.
08:57You guys sound real good.
08:58If you stagger it up, I'm going to take your f***ing mix.
09:02Oh, we're shutting it down, man.
09:04Let's go.
09:04Thank you very much, guys.
09:05Good night.
09:05What a party.
09:07Woo!
09:10Sublime played backyard parties all over Orange County for a couple of years.
09:14Then in the spring of 90, music student Michael Happel approached them with an offer they couldn't refuse.
09:20So, you know, I go to school, it's free studio time, you know, Brad, like, lit up.
09:24He was like, yeah, we're down for that.
09:25I've got some songs right now.
09:32We went in and snuck in after hours and recorded all night long from, you know, midnight until 7 o
09:38'clock in the morning before the professor got back there.
09:41That's when things got out of control.
09:44They recorded a demo called Ja Won't Pay the Bills and sold it at their shows.
09:49The tape circulated all over Orange County, creating a buzz in the region's thriving ska and punk scene.
09:55If it wasn't for date rape, I'd never get laid.
10:01It became our favorite tape.
10:02I thought that Bradley was the black guy, you know, because his voice is so, like, soulful.
10:06And I had it all in my head exactly what it looked like, you know, and I was falling in
10:10love with him just from his voice.
10:16By 1991, Sublime was becoming legendary in the local clubs.
10:24And they made sure they lived up to their hard-playing, hard-partying image.
10:34This was some serious party culture.
10:37I mean, we were partying every day.
10:39Narconics were an ever-present part of the Long Beach party scene.
10:42I smoked two joints before I smoked two joints, and then I smoked two more.
10:47These guys were messing with hard drugs.
10:50I mean, growing up in Long Beach from a young age, you know, I was always around.
10:55My friends were doing it.
10:56They were okay.
10:57Nobody's dying, you know.
11:00Sure, I'll get high with you, you know.
11:02And just about everywhere you go, there was drugs of some sort at every party.
11:06This has been brought to you by the Cannabis Action Network.
11:09We can't normalize, y'all.
11:14For years, Brad feared heroin and refused to try it.
11:18But by the time he entered his 20s, his curiosity got the better of him.
11:25His excuse for taking the heroin was that he felt like he had to be larger than life.
11:31He was leading the band.
11:32He was leading his fans, and he had to put on his persona.
11:40He'd heard a lot of musicians say that they were taking heroin to be more creative and all that kind
11:45of stuff.
11:46So those were his excuses.
11:51He thought that he could wear it like a, you know what I mean, like a costume for a while
11:58and control it.
12:03You know, I think he honestly thought that, you know, for a while.
12:15Coming up, one wild day at the Weenie Roast.
12:18Sublime gave out 300 laminates to all of their friends.
12:21All of Long Beach was backstage.
12:23K-Rock was freaking out.
12:25There's only a finite number of people that can be backstage without the fire marshal coming in and clearing everybody
12:30out and basically shutting down the show.
12:32It's not good.
12:33When Behind the Music continues.
12:45Sublime was practically the house band for Orange County, California in the late 1980s, playing virtually every dive bar and
12:52backyard barbecue south of L.A.
12:54We called it Brick by Brick.
12:56That was our philosophy.
12:58Brick by Brick.
12:58It doesn't matter if we go to a town to make one friend.
13:01That's one more than we have.
13:03Now let's go!
13:09Then in February of 1990, Sublime added an attraction to the traveling circus.
13:17It was more than the usual boy and his dog.
13:22Brad adopted an abused Dalmatian puppy and named him Louie, after his grandfather.
13:28Louie Dogg just loved Brad because it's like the first time he'd actually been shown love, you know.
13:33Brad and Louie Dogg were instantly inseparable.
13:36Everybody say Louie.
13:37One, two, three.
13:42Definitely a member of the band for sure.
13:44I mean, it was everywhere that they went.
13:45Louie Dogg was there.
13:46He sung about Louie Dogg, you know.
13:48I think it was a really big part of his life.
13:50Louie would stand on stage when they'd play, and he'd just curl up next to Brad's feet.
13:55He was the rock star dog.
14:06In March of 91, Sublime produced their first full-length album, 40 ounces to freedom, recording it with money they
14:13scraped together from friends and family.
14:21By 92, they were headlining and selling out clubs throughout Southern California.
14:26We packed the place.
14:27I mean, it would be a madhouse.
14:30The reputation was spreading.
14:32The CDs were selling.
14:33It was getting out.
14:34This is the original driving of the next album.
14:39It was like a party.
14:41They would turn each club into a party.
14:43It's trashed the whole place.
14:47Troy Dendecker fell for Sublime the first time she saw them in the summer of 92.
14:53After the show, she fell for Brad and invited him back to a party at a friend's house.
14:59He was kind of an introvert, kind of shy, but he was very intelligent.
15:04And Brad and I ended up just talking all night and became friends.
15:07He told me the first day that he had met her that he had met somebody really special.
15:11Brad and Troy's relationship would develop gradually over the course of a couple of years.
15:19But at the same time, Brad was developing a heroin habit.
15:23And by early 93, friends say he had become an addict.
15:27He had told me he had been getting high for a while and that he needed it.
15:31He was sick.
15:32And I could kind of see it in his face that he had been using.
15:36It was the big gossip.
15:37Oh, yeah, you heard that late singer of Sublime.
15:39He's all strung out.
15:41He's a heroin addict.
15:42He's a junkie.
15:43And Brad wasn't secretive about it.
15:47He did not hide it from anyone.
15:49I'd talk to him, you know, about it.
15:52And I had tried to nurse him back to health.
15:56Tried to, you know, beat him up a few times and knock some sense into him.
16:02And none of those things worked.
16:12By the time Brad started recording Sublime's second album in June of 93,
16:16it was clear that heroin had a firm grip on his life.
16:23The song Pool Shark was Brad's take on powerlessness in the face of addiction.
16:28Now I've got that needle and I can't shake, but I can't breathe.
16:34I take it away.
16:35I want more and more.
16:38One day I'm gonna lose the war.
16:41It's really sad, but he wrote what he knew.
16:44And he pretty much laid it out there.
16:48There's no question that Brad understood the dangers involved
16:52and that he knew that it was a life-threatening situation.
16:56He understood that.
16:58I worried every night about getting the phone call, you know, that he had OD'd.
17:02Be so cool, but...
17:03At this point, you know, it wasn't a question of was it gonna happen.
17:09It was more of a question of when it was gonna happen.
17:11I want more and more.
17:14One day I'm gonna lose the war.
17:22Next, Brad's family steps between him and his addiction.
17:25I actually physically fought him on the stairs.
17:29My wife had to knee him in his most vulnerable spot to stop him.
17:32I hit him in the balls and he went down hard.
17:35When Behind the Music continues.
17:47With their music, Sublime told tales from the seedier side of the California dream,
17:52where hookers and hard drugs were as much a part of life as the sun and the surf.
17:57The only family that she's ever had
18:00Is the seven lonely brothers and a drunk-ass dad
18:03They are the Beach Boys in a post-modern era.
18:06There's a lot of kids with drug problems and parental problems.
18:10And Brad was coming out telling you how it was.
18:12I'll do anything I can the wrong way
18:15Sublime's frontman, Brad Knoll, was living the life he wrote about.
18:19By 93, the 25-year-old was scoring heroin on the streets of Long Beach.
18:24So shoot it up, shoot it up, it just don't matter
18:30We were partying, pretty much out of control, you know.
18:35I mean, drinking like booze every day.
18:37Brad was definitely, you know, on hard drugs.
18:46Sublime's reckless reputation scared more than a few record labels away.
18:50But in the fall of 93, they won an ally at Gasoline Alley,
18:54a boutique label owned by MCA Records.
18:57I'd already started telling the label, like,
19:00look, you know, I want to sign this band,
19:01and this is a band that's going to musically break through.
19:11In October of 93, John Phillips convinced an executive at Gasoline Alley
19:15to meet with Sublime to discuss a possible deal.
19:18Sublime came in with their crew and their dogs and, you know, like, took over.
19:26We had been drinking, you know, we were going to celebrate, you know.
19:29We're already thinking, ah, we're going to get signed.
19:31Brad thought he was going to walk in and sign a deal in one day
19:33and walk with 30G and he'd be happy.
19:35It's like, hey, bro, I don't work like that.
19:41The band says they waited for hours, but the executive was too busy to meet them.
19:46So drunk and frustrated, they snuck into his office to take their revenge.
19:50Blue Dog kind of needed to use the restroom,
19:53and he kind of took a dumper in a guy's office.
19:59Good boy.
20:00We drive off, just dying of laughter, you know, crying.
20:04All hell broke, it was, like, the deal's done.
20:07I don't ever want to do this, that, and another thing.
20:09He didn't really take a liking to that too much.
20:11You know, he was kind of pissed off.
20:16But nine months later, Gasoline Alley reconsidered
20:19and signed Sublime to a six-record deal.
20:22It didn't matter what they did.
20:24Their music was good enough where they could actually break through
20:26and not have to play the game, you know,
20:29and they were definitely doing it on their own terms.
20:32At the time, Brad had more than a record deal to celebrate.
20:35By early 94, he had fallen deeply in love with his friend Troy Dendecker.
20:49It's like, where have you been my whole life?
20:51Oh, my God, and we just totally got along, and we needed each other.
20:53More than a girlfriend, Troy was Brad's caretaker,
20:56standing by him when his drug usage pushed others away.
20:59I just loved him with unconditional love, no matter what,
21:03and I was going to stand by his side
21:04and just try and be understanding.
21:06I wasn't trying to really tell him what to do or how to do it.
21:09I was just there for him.
21:11Don't know the summer week
21:15Won't somebody get me off of this room
21:19Brad had tried repeatedly to get off heroin
21:22at least ten times over five years,
21:25but each time, rehab would lead to relapse.
21:29He tried really hard.
21:31I mean, he did go through rehab several times.
21:34We paid for, I don't know how many rehabs we paid.
21:36He'd stay two or three days, and then he'd walk out.
21:40In the fall of 94, Brad said he was determined to kick heroin on his own.
21:44He asked his father and stepmother to watch over him
21:47and help him through the agonizing withdrawal.
21:49He lasted two days, and he tried to leave the house, steal the car,
21:57and so I actually physically fought him on the stairs.
22:02My wife had to knee him in his most vulnerable spot to stop him.
22:06I hit him in the balls, and he went down hard,
22:09and then I just grabbed him by his collar, and I drug him up the stairs.
22:14A couple hours later, he was going out the door,
22:18and I put him up against the wall.
22:19I said, you're not going.
22:20And he said, Dad, there's no use.
22:22He said, if it's not now, it's going to be some other time.
22:26You know, you just can't stop it.
22:31And that night, Jim said to me,
22:33you better let this kid go because we're not going to have him that long.
22:42Soon, Brad's struggle to get clean would take on even greater urgency.
22:45In October of 94, his girlfriend, Troy, learned that she was pregnant.
22:51He was still abusing heroin, and it was scary for me.
22:56I really wasn't ready.
22:57I was kind of freaked out, you know,
22:59especially because of where we were in our lives.
23:02We didn't have money.
23:03I mean, the band wasn't doing really well.
23:05But the band's fortunes were about to change.
23:11In January of 95,
23:12the influential Los Angeles radio station, KROQ,
23:16added sublime song, Date Rake, to its playlist.
23:25Bam, it goes on the radio.
23:27My whole office is like,
23:28let's call, request, request, request.
23:30Two hours, three hours later,
23:32the phones were lighting up so much,
23:34we didn't have to call.
23:35It was my first time I ever shot a video for anything.
23:38And I thought it was pretty fun.
23:40We all got so, so butthoused.
23:47The first week after KROQ played Date Rake,
23:51I got a call from every Tom, Dick, and Harry,
23:54every promoter looking to book the band.
23:57Because as soon as you have a song playing on KROQ,
24:00you're worth something to them.
24:01Date Rake!
24:03We've got a number one song on KROQ,
24:06and from there,
24:07the band gets its first real legitimate tour.
24:13In June of 95,
24:14the band rolled into KROQ's annual weenie roast.
24:17And in typical sublime fashion,
24:19they immediately set about alienating
24:21their one ally in the radio industry.
24:23We all have weenies,
24:24but we haven't even...
24:25We're just a bunch of weenies.
24:26We're just a bunch of big weenies.
24:28We're just burning bridges big time.
24:31It was fun, though.
24:32So, baby, if you want to get high,
24:34I'll tell you if you want to go,
24:36you make no sense at all.
24:38I'm sorry.
24:39Joined by fellow Orange County rocker Gwen Stefani,
24:42Sublime hit the stage with a vengeance,
24:45intent on causing as much mayhem as possible.
24:48The station, as I recall,
24:49gives us like 10 backstage passes,
24:51and it just wasn't sufficient.
24:52They always have an entourage of about 4 billion people.
24:55We had a friend with a computer and a printer,
24:58and we printed up some passes.
25:00So, Sublime gave out 300 laminates
25:03to all of their friends.
25:04So, all of Long Beach was backstage.
25:07KROQ was freaking out.
25:13There's only a finite number of people
25:15that can be backstage
25:15without the fire marshal coming in
25:17and clearing everybody out
25:18and basically shutting down the show.
25:20It's not good.
25:21And all the people they hang out with,
25:23hi, you guys,
25:24are crazy, you know what I mean?
25:26Like, just wild,
25:27like, just take over.
25:34Sublime's outrageous antics
25:36in front of the hometown crowd
25:37only made them more popular
25:39in Southern California.
25:40They just wanted to play their music,
25:42and while they weren't playing,
25:44they were going to piss everyone off,
25:45irritate everyone,
25:46and they were like a bunch of kids
25:48in a candy store running around,
25:50you know, doing whatever they wanted.
25:52But soon, Brad Knoll would be forced to grow up.
25:55Hey, you guys want to say hi to my girlfriend, Troy?
25:58She's having my baby in like three days.
25:59She's having my baby!
26:01It's going to be a boy.
26:02Yeah, say hi.
26:04Hi, Troy.
26:05He's like, I'm going to be a daddy.
26:06He was so proud.
26:08He wanted Jacob so bad.
26:10Honey, I got to go, all right?
26:13He couldn't have been happier,
26:14and of course,
26:15I couldn't have been happier either,
26:16that it hopefully would be something
26:17that he could pin his emotions on,
26:19and it would help him deal with his addiction.
26:24On June 25th, 1995,
26:27Troy gave birth to a baby boy
26:28they named Jacob.
26:31Bradley couldn't wait to teach Jacob everything.
26:34He wanted to teach him surfing and music
26:37and snowboarding
26:38and get him his own little Dalmatian,
26:40and that was his little guy.
26:42He had a sparkle in his eye
26:44that I hadn't seen in a long time.
26:48I remember him playing his guitar
26:50and having Jake on the bed,
26:52and he would sit on the bed and play to him.
26:54He loved it.
26:57I remember Brad being, like, fat, healthy,
27:00and holding his kid in his arms,
27:02and he told me,
27:03now that I have a kid, man,
27:04I've got to sort of straighten up,
27:05and when I do it for my kid, I'm happy.
27:14Next, from local heroes
27:16to national superstars,
27:18Sublime hits the big time.
27:22Next thing you know,
27:23my phone's ringing.
27:24Carlin K. Rock, right now.
27:26What I got was on,
27:27and that was it.
27:28And the people demanded it.
27:32When Behind the Music continues.
27:4427-year-old Brad Knoll
27:45had every reason to celebrate
27:47in the summer of 1995.
27:49Sublime had just scored a record deal,
27:51and he had a brand-new baby son named Jacob.
27:54He had everything that he wanted,
27:56everything was going right in his life,
27:58but he still wasn't happy.
27:59But I really want to say
28:02I can't be fine.
28:04There were some days
28:05where he would just be so gloomy,
28:07and he didn't even know why,
28:08and it started driving him nuts.
28:09That's another reason
28:10why he turned to drugs.
28:12You know, it pulled him out of it.
28:13He was trying to self-medicate.
28:19Brad had made an effort
28:20to get clean
28:21after the birth of his son,
28:23but when the band
28:24headed out to Austin, Texas
28:25in early 96
28:26to record their major label debut,
28:28his resolve weakened.
28:30Brad felt a lot of pressure
28:31for the self-titled album.
28:33He didn't have a lot of songs written.
28:34And when he went out there
28:36to start recording it.
28:37Brad was certainly going through
28:39conflict and stress
28:41or depression
28:42or whatever it was.
28:43I remember him telling me,
28:45you know,
28:45man, lyrics are hard.
28:46Lyrics are hard, you know.
28:50He started using real heavily
28:52once we got out there.
28:53The amount of time
28:54that Brad spent shooting up
28:56started turning into
28:58long periods of time
28:59where I didn't know
28:59if he was okay or not,
29:01and there came a point
29:02to where it scared me,
29:03and I just called the label
29:05and said,
29:06bring these guys home.
29:07They were scaring me,
29:08and Brad was scaring me,
29:09and I didn't know what to do.
29:15Five weeks into the sessions,
29:17the label decided
29:18to send Brad back home
29:19to Southern California
29:20to clean up.
29:21His addiction was just
29:22eating him up at that point,
29:25you know,
29:25and it was scary
29:26because he was really
29:28beyond any of us
29:30helping him.
29:31He needed to get
29:32some professional help.
29:35It was the worst
29:36Troy had ever seen Brad,
29:37and she didn't want
29:38Jacob around his father
29:40in that strung-out state,
29:42so she packed up
29:43and left.
29:45She called me up
29:46and said,
29:47Brad's back,
29:47and I'm going home
29:48to Mother.
29:48He's a mess.
29:50So I ran down there,
29:52and we were hugging
29:53in his kitchen,
29:54and he said,
29:54Dad, I'm so sorry,
29:57you know,
29:58that I'm disappointing you.
30:00And I said,
30:00you're not disappointing me.
30:01I said,
30:02I couldn't be prouder.
30:03I couldn't be prouder
30:04of your music
30:04and all the things
30:05that you've done,
30:07but at the same time,
30:09I'm deathly afraid
30:09that you're going
30:10to kill yourself.
30:14Brad made another vow
30:15to kick heroin,
30:16and this time
30:17he made good.
30:21After staying clean
30:22for three months,
30:23he and Troy
30:23were so optimistic
30:24about his recovery
30:25that they decided
30:26to get married.
30:27That was the happiest
30:29I'd ever seen Brad.
30:30He was just truly
30:31happy that day.
30:34On May 18, 1996,
30:36they went at a chapel
30:38in Las Vegas,
30:38surrounded by friends
30:39and family,
30:40and it seemed like Brad
30:42was opening a new chapter
30:43in his life.
30:46I believe Brad
30:47had made a real commitment
30:49to clean up at that point
30:51for his wife and his kid.
30:52Things were going good for him.
30:54I really thought
30:55that it looked like
30:57there was light
30:57at the end of the tunnel.
31:00Three days after the wedding,
31:02Sublime embarked
31:03on a short West Coast tour.
31:04They had just put
31:05the finishing touches
31:06on the self-titled album
31:07they had recorded in Texas,
31:08and they were revving up
31:10for its release
31:10that summer.
31:19Everybody's getting along great.
31:21You know,
31:21we don't have this problem
31:22of, you know,
31:24addiction in the band
31:25right now.
31:26The shows were all sold out.
31:28He was playing
31:29all the new songs
31:30and the audience reaction
31:32to the new songs
31:33was incredible.
31:34He couldn't believe it.
31:36It's hard to keep
31:38my soul on the ground.
31:41But Sublime's reputation
31:43as the good time party band
31:45never faded,
31:46and the road became
31:47a challenging environment
31:48for Brad's sobriety.
31:50After one of the shows,
31:51there was some
31:52late night madness going on,
31:54and Brad stumbled onto it.
31:59Brad was offered
32:00some heroin,
32:01and after three months
32:02of clean living,
32:03he gave in to temptation.
32:05I wanted to party
32:06one more time,
32:07kind of celebrate.
32:08this album release.
32:09You know,
32:10both Eric and I
32:10had told him,
32:11you know,
32:11you don't need that,
32:12you know,
32:12you don't need to do it.
32:15It's just work that we do,
32:17it's just work that we do.
32:20On May 24th, 1996,
32:23Sublime rolled into
32:24Petaluma, California.
32:25That evening,
32:26Brad shot up
32:27and played the show
32:28high on heroin.
32:29When is it ever going to be the last show?
32:34No!
32:35It is going to be the last show.
32:38So special,
32:39I've been able to pass me down.
32:42After playing Petaluma,
32:43he called me,
32:43and he was just so happy,
32:45and he wanted to tell me
32:45how much he loved
32:46Jacob and me,
32:48and that they had the best show
32:50ever that night.
32:51It was the happiest
32:53I had ever heard.
32:57I could tell that
32:58he'd been partying,
33:00you know,
33:00and I was a little concerned,
33:01but I didn't want to argue with him
33:02because he was so happy.
33:04When the band pulled into
33:05an Oceanside motel
33:07in San Francisco
33:08late that night,
33:09Brad wanted to keep on celebrating.
33:11He'd asked me
33:12if I was going to go out
33:13and party with him,
33:13and, you know,
33:14I just wasn't into it.
33:15You know,
33:15I was tired,
33:16and, you know,
33:17didn't want to,
33:19you know,
33:19egg him on
33:20or support him in using.
33:24Brad stayed out all night,
33:26and the next morning
33:27with the beach
33:27ablaze and sunshine,
33:29he barged in
33:30to wake up his bandmates
33:31and tell them
33:32about the 10-foot waves
33:33that were breaking offshore.
33:37He said,
33:38hey, get up.
33:39Let's take Louie
33:39down to the beach.
33:40It's beautiful out,
33:42and I was just hungover
33:43as can be,
33:44and I just, like,
33:45flicked him off
33:46and said,
33:47go away,
33:47and fell back asleep.
33:51I was hungover
33:52as can be.
33:53I was not going to get up.
33:54He's like,
33:55Mikey,
33:55you got to see this.
33:57You're going to trip.
33:58It's incredible.
33:59Can you hear it?
34:00You could just hear it.
34:01Boom.
34:04I'm like,
34:05oh, man.
34:07Come get me later.
34:10No one knows for sure
34:11what happened next,
34:12but it's believed
34:13that Brad walked down
34:14to the beach with Louie
34:15and took in the scenery.
34:18Come, come, come, come.
34:19Then Brad headed back
34:21to the hotel room
34:22he was sharing with Bud.
34:24He reached into his stash
34:26and shot up one last time.
34:33When I woke up,
34:34Brad was laying on the bed,
34:37and he had his feet on the floor
34:39and was just,
34:40he was undressed,
34:41and I kind of, like,
34:42started laughing,
34:42like, you know,
34:43oh, you must have had a good time
34:45and couldn't even make it
34:45all the way into bed.
34:48I didn't hear him snoring
34:50or groaning from his hangover
34:53or anything,
34:54and Lou Dog was, like,
34:55curled up on the end of the bed,
34:58kind of, like, whimpering,
35:00like, looking really sad,
35:01and so I got up
35:05and noticed he had, like,
35:06a film around his mouth,
35:09some yellow
35:11and white foamy mucus,
35:15and instantly I knew,
35:17you know,
35:17that he had overdosed.
35:23Bud called for help,
35:25but by the time
35:25the paramedics arrived,
35:27it was too late.
35:28On the morning of May 25, 1996,
35:3128-year-old Bradley Knoll
35:33was pronounced dead.
35:36They were, like,
35:38he's gone, man.
35:40That's that.
35:42End of story.
35:45Back home in Long Beach,
35:47the phone rang
35:48just as Brad's father
35:49and stepmother
35:50were preparing
35:50to take their grandson,
35:52Jacob,
35:52on a picnic.
35:57We were just getting ready
35:58to walk out the door
35:59and we got a telephone call
36:02and I knew,
36:03I knew as soon as
36:05Jim just completely
36:08fell apart.
36:09Of course,
36:10it's the worst thing
36:10that can happen to you,
36:11you know,
36:12and the most painful thing
36:12that can happen to you.
36:13You have to go through
36:14that kind of grief.
36:15I mean,
36:15it's debilitating.
36:18You can't even stand up.
36:21Of course,
36:22the worst part
36:22is having to tell everybody,
36:23you know.
36:25I heard his voice
36:26and he said
36:28that Brad was dead.
36:34I'll never forget
36:36the moment.
36:39First,
36:39it's a disbelief,
36:41but Jim was crying
36:42and he just,
36:43he just sounded devastated.
36:46It's probably the worst
36:49sound in the whole world.
36:51I remember my first reaction
36:53was just being pissed.
36:55I was so mad at him.
36:56I wanted him there
36:57to yell at him,
36:58to knock him around,
36:59you know,
37:00like,
37:00you're so stupid.
37:01Why did you do that?
37:03Even though
37:03the whole time
37:04we were together,
37:06he flirted with death,
37:08you're never prepared
37:09for it actually happening.
37:11For Troy,
37:12who had seen Brad
37:13through the worst
37:14of his heroin addiction,
37:15his death was
37:16a heartbreaking blow.
37:18But she has come
37:19to see it as the end
37:20of a long
37:21and painful struggle.
37:23You know,
37:24heroin addiction
37:25is not like
37:25any other addiction.
37:27It's an uphill battle
37:28for the rest of your life.
37:31And he wasn't strong
37:32enough to fight it.
37:34And he was just
37:35tired of fighting it.
37:37But what brings me peace
37:39is knowing in my heart
37:41that he just went to sleep.
37:43He was just tired.
37:44He had finished
37:45everything he needed
37:46to do in his life.
37:47And it was time
37:48for him to go.
38:05On June 1st, 1996,
38:08Brad Knoll's family
38:09and friends
38:09gathered in Long Beach,
38:10California
38:11to say goodbye.
38:16After the memorial service,
38:18his closest friends
38:19took a portion
38:20of his ashes
38:20down to his favorite
38:21surfing spot.
38:25I went down to Surfside
38:27where he was living
38:28and lit a bunch of torches
38:30and went out on the beach
38:31and the guys
38:32put on their wetsuits
38:33and paddled out
38:34and scattered his ashes.
38:40So it was like
38:41they all got to
38:42release a part of Brad
38:44and say goodbye to Brad
38:46in their own way.
38:55Brad's overdose
38:55had left Sublime
38:57without a lead singer,
38:58his wife,
38:59Troy,
38:59without a husband,
39:00and most tragically,
39:02his 11-month-old son,
39:03Jacob,
39:04without a father.
39:08There is so much
39:09that Jacob
39:10could have learned
39:11from him
39:11and that's where
39:13I feel the loss
39:14is when it comes to Jacob.
39:16Jacob won't ever
39:17have any memories
39:18of his dad,
39:18Noah's dad.
39:20It's not the saddest thing.
39:24In the weeks
39:25following Brad's death,
39:26Sublime decided
39:27there was no way
39:28to go on without him.
39:29Their final gesture
39:30as a group
39:31would be to release
39:32the self-titled album
39:33they had just
39:34finished recording.
39:35It was a tragedy,
39:37but yet it would have been
39:38an even bigger tragedy
39:40had things not been
39:43released.
39:44So we decided together
39:45that we were going
39:46to continue forward
39:47and the first song
39:48was What I Got.
39:50Early in the morning
39:52rising to the street
39:54Next thing you know,
39:56my phone's ringing.
39:57Darling K-Rock,
39:58right now.
39:59What I Got was on.
40:00The people demanded it.
40:02Love's what I got,
40:03don't start a riot.
40:04You'll feel it
40:05when the dance gets hot.
40:07Within two weeks,
40:09What I Got became
40:10the number one requested
40:11song on L.A.'s K-Rock.
40:13Then it broke nationwide.
40:15I should remember that.
40:18The album spawned
40:19five hit singles
40:20and went on to sell
40:21five million copies,
40:23becoming one of the
40:24biggest records of 1997.
40:30This was a seminal band.
40:32They were that good,
40:34they were that innovative,
40:35and the music that they
40:37made was that original.
40:38People critically don't
40:39think of Brad in terms
40:41of the Jim Morrison's
40:42and the Kurt Cobain's,
40:44but they will.
40:44take a dip,
40:45take a dip,
40:46take a dip,
40:47take a dip.
40:47I'll be you.
40:48Brad is on the microphone
40:50and rise,
40:51so you are...
40:51Since Brad wasn't around
40:52to appear in videos,
40:54the band used the next best thing,
40:56his dog Louie.
40:59Louie Dog was like
41:00Brad's alter ego,
41:02and Louie being involved
41:03in those videos
41:04was always like,
41:05hey, that's how we keep
41:06a little bit of magic
41:07of something
41:07that was that close
41:08to Brad.
41:10The really weird thing
41:12was after Brad passed away,
41:14it was like Louie knew.
41:15Louie would sit on the couch
41:16and look out the window
41:18like he was waiting
41:19for Brad to come home,
41:20and he would sigh.
41:21He would just...
41:22Like he just knew
41:24Brad was gone.
41:28And when Louie Dog
41:29died of old age
41:31in the fall of 2001,
41:32Brad's family made sure
41:34they were reunited
41:35by scattering Louie's ashes
41:37in the same spot
41:38they had scattered
41:38Brad's.
41:39It was Jake actually
41:41who called me up
41:42and told me that Lou died,
41:44and he said he's gone
41:45to heaven to be with a dad.
41:47He has no conscious memory
41:50of having had a dad,
41:51but he knows that
41:53most people have a dad
41:53and he doesn't.
41:55So he understands
41:57that he's lost something.
42:03But Jacob does have
42:05the music his father
42:06left behind.
42:13The thing that I would hope
42:15for people to remember
42:16the most is
42:17the beautiful music
42:18that we made,
42:19and if they could learn
42:20something from him,
42:22it would be that
42:22drugs are evil
42:24and that nobody is
42:26more powerful than drugs.
42:41I like to remember him
42:43right after he had Jake
42:45and the happiness
42:47that I could see in his eyes
42:48and the love
42:50that he was feeling.
42:57Deep down love
42:58is what he had.
42:59He had that in his soul
43:00and in his heart.
43:01You just get it
43:02when you hear it.
43:03Loving is what I got.
43:06I said, grab my back.
43:09Loving is what I got.
43:11I got, I got, I got, I got, I got.
43:43So she told me to come over
43:45And I took that trip
43:47And then she pulled out my mushroom tips
43:50And when it came out, it went drip, drip, drip
43:53I didn't know she had the G.I. Joe Kung Fu grip
43:56And it went, uh, and the rules arrest me down
44:00That's the dubbing sound
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