The last few weeks haven’t been easy within the rock and metal world, as more than a handful of musicians have passed away. Writing and reporting on a death is never easy. It’s a shock to us, followed by having to write about it for our readers. One death that has been particularly difficult, with a growing sense of unease, is the recent tragedy of Kimberly Burch, fiancée of Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe, who died after falling overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas cruise ship. The incident took place during The 80s Cruise.
Following an investigation, Royal Caribbean’s security footage confirmed that Burch tragically passed away by jumping overboard on March 3. Nassau police, holding jurisdiction since the ship is registered in the Bahamas, reviewed the case and cleared Faster Pussycat vocalist Taime Downe of any wrongdoing.
Before any definitive facts were revealed, there were rushed reports across various platforms: breaking social media posts, TikTok, YouTube reports, podcasts, blogs, and news outlets. In today’s fast-paced digital age, there is often a battle between being the first to report and ensuring accuracy through thorough research. Unfortunately, in this case, with the rise of internet speculation, the rush to be “the first to report” has led to misinformation, as far as a report misidentification of another individual on the boat. While this is a deeply personal and tragic ordeal, many speculated before the facts were confirmed. The reality is that no one outside of those present truly knew what happened. Sadly, security footage, reviewed by investigators, revealed the awful truth.
Mental illness, emotional distress, or other factors can lead to sudden decisions or planned choices, but we do not know the full circumstances. What we do know is that Burch’s death has been classified as a suicide, as the footage shows her jumping. She did so in front of her fiancé, Downe, a horrific and traumatic experience. Now, her family and friends are left to grieve this devastating loss. What was meant to be a fun and exciting trip on The 80s Cruise turned into a tragedy, leading to the cancellation of Faster Pussycat’s remaining performances onboard. Additionally, the band is no longer set to appear on Monsters of Rock Cruise, though the event organizers have yet to announce the change. According to Riki Rachtman (MTV’s Headbangers Ball), Faster Pussycat merchandise will still be sold on the boat, and he encourages fans to support the band during this difficult time.
Accurate reporting with factual information may feel like a thing of the past in an era where sensationalized posts are rushed out to generate clicks and views. It’s a difficult balance. However, facts matter, and the truth should always prevail. With that in mind, rather than responding to various news outlets, Rachtman, who is a longtime friend of Downe, went on Facebook Live to set the record straight.
Here are some key points from his video, transcribed by Metal Insider:
On the media:
“When something really, really tragic happens, everybody feels the need to be the first to tell the story. Oh, I found out about this first and go on social media. Let me tell you what happened. And people are on social media going ballistic right now, telling all these stories that are based on no facts, that are absolutely lies.
And so many people that are posting and you guys know what I’m talking about because, and let me back up by telling you something. I’ve gotten several calls from the news, from podcast, some radio show, and of course, from social media asking me if I would do interviews about the tragedy that happened with Kimberly Burch.
I decided that I do not want to talk about it. And here I am, being the ultimate hypocrite and talking about it. There’s a reason, because to me, it wasn’t about getting hits to be the late breaking news. There’s so much lies, so much stuff that’s being said right now. And I’m so furious and I’m saddened and I’m sickened and I’m going to go on here and I’m probably going to get a lot of hate for it.
But I really don’t care at this point because I’m just I mean, we all know that society on a whole right now is very toxic and very angry.”
He continued:
“If you don’t know, Taime has been my friend for 38 years…He’s always been my best friend, and I have never stopped talking to him and never stopped seeing him. And I know that I wouldn’t have the career that I have now if it wasn’t for Taime Downe. I also know Kimberly Burch because I’ve been with Taime, Kimberly, many, many, many times to the point I mean, Kimberly and Taime have been at my house many times, and I’m going to say some stuff right now.
And, and so like, like I said, and please deal with me because I’m filled with them right now. I know that I am going to come off like a 100% hypocrite, because I am furious that everybody had to post this on their Facebook page about things that they knew absolutely nothing about.”
On setting the record straight:
“I haven’t talked about this at all. And the only reason I’m talking about this right now is because I’ve got to send some stuff straight. Because there’s so much bullshit out there.”
He continued:
“Okay, here’s the deal. Okay. Kimberly and Taime have always had a very toxic relationship. They have been fighting a lot. They’ve always fought a lot. A lot of it had to do with drugs and alcohol. Taime loves Kimberly very, very much. Kimberly loved Taime very, very much. However, they fought all the time. That is the true story.”
On the tragedy:
“So from what I understand and please, I feel horrible. And I know I’m going to sound so insensitive, which is not the case. I have so many feelings about this, but there were people that were posting accusations geared at Taime. And so now I’m going to tell you the honest truth of what is happening, okay? It’s very, very, very, very horrible to say.
But Kimberly Burch committed suicide. She jumped off the boat. And unfortunately, I’m shaking right now. And unfortunately she did it right in front of Taime.”
He continued:
“Taime has been trying very, a very, very long time to be sober. And I’m so proud of him. And he’s been sober. He hasn’t smoke, hasn’t drank, he hasn’t done alcohol.”
Rachtman also addressed a TMZ report in which a family member stated that Kimberly was sober. He expressed a different perspective based on his personal experiences, suggesting that the claim might not reflect the full picture. While acknowledging the sensitivity of the situation, he implied that the family member may not have been closely involved in recent years and reiterated that his observations told a different story.
He expressed:
“People that are hurt. The friends of Kimberly are hurting. Kimberly’s relatives are really, really hurting. But people hurt. People hurt people. And that is what happened. So for anybody to put any blame on Taime is absolutely disgusting. The fact is, he was exonerated of all charges. If he wasn’t, he’d be in jail. There is video. I can’t believe that I’m even saying this because I was trying to stay away from this.
There is video of her committing suicide and Taime was cleared of all charges. How’s Taime doing? Well, how do you think he’s doing? The woman that he’s in love with, the woman that he’s lived with for, I think the past eight years committed suicide in front of him. And I feel horrible for Kimberly.”
Stuck on the boat:
“He’s not allowed to leave the boat. He’s been put in a room and he has different people that are staying with him at different times, and he can’t even get off the boat because it happened in America, and he needs to get off the boat in America. So he was stuck in that room. He couldn’t even get his clothes from the room.
On suicide prevention:
“If any of you, any of you and listen to me, you know anything I said. Listen, this. If you ever, ever, ever feel that bad and you ever feel that pain, please call 988.
He continued:
“988 is the suicide prevention hotline. I’m doing my big benefit raid right right now, and I’m going to raise $30,000 for suicide prevention.”
On Faster Pussycat not performing Monsters of Rock:
“Another thing, of course, Faster Pussycat is not playing on the Monsters of Rock cruise and the Monsters Rock cruise is selling Faster Pussycat T-shirts, and some of you are going to think that’s tasteless. It’s not. Please, if you’re going on that cruise, buy all the fast excursions because that money goes to them.”
Rachtman later shared the GoFundMe he launched, benefiting the 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline.
It’s time to let the family and friends mourn this tragic loss.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental-health or going through a hard time, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, or 988, as well as visiting the hotline.
