Eagles of Death Metal Merch Manager Laid to Rest
Eagles of Death Metal merch manager Nick Alexander, who was one of 130 people killed in a series of terrorist attacks in Paris this November, was buried at St. Andrew’s Church in Weeley, England, the Daily Gazette reports.
Over 250 people attended the funeral at the church where Alexander had been an altar boy. Alexander was laid to rest in a casket surrounded by white flowers in the shape of a musical note, while the service featured renditions of the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” and Paul Williams’ “You Give a Little Love,” as well as a reading from The Little Prince.
“It wasn’t a somber service,” said parish council chairman Peter Dumsday, who’d known Alexander since his childhood. “When Nick’s school friend Taz Khan spoke, who had known him all her life, everybody was laughing … If Nick had been in the church service, he would have been selling raffle tickets.”
Alexander was born and raised in Weeley, where his mother, father and sister still live. He left the village for college, and while work often kept him on the road for long stretches, he maintained strong roots in his childhood home. As Dumsday noted, “he would always be home for Christmas.”
Along with his work as merch manager for Eagles of Death Metal, Alexander held a similar position on multiple tours with Sum 41, Panic! at the Disco and the Black Keys.
“I spent a lot of time with Nick, but the thing about the touring merch job, it’s one of the more thankless jobs,” drummer Patrick Carney told Rolling Stone. “You do it because you just want to travel and you’re interested in meeting new people and it’s really hard work. It’s not the job you take if you’re into partying. So he was a really organized, super hard worker, really funny. I remember him always very content with being on tour. It was what seems to make him the happiest. After shows, when everyone would go wild or whatever, he would also be really reserved. He was just a sweetheart, that guy.”