Derek Jones, Falling in Reverse Guitarist, Dead at 35

Derek Jones, the guitarist for the band Falling in Reverse, has died at the age of 35. The news was first reported by the band’s singer, Ronnie Radke, who also shared a quartet of photos featuring Jones on Twitter, via LoudWire.

“I’ll never forget when you picked me up from jail in your old tour van to start falling in reverse,” Radke tweeted. “Your spirit will be interwoven through the music I write forever. Rest In Peace Derek Jones. My heart is broken.” At this time, no specifics about a cause of death have been revealed.

Prior to Radke’s release from prison, Jones moved to Las Vegas back in 2010 and the two started the hardcore band. In less than two years, Falling in Reverse released their debut album, The Drug in Me is You, on Epitaph Records in 2011. The band’s fourth album, Coming Home, was released in 2017.

In the fall of 2019, Falling In Reverse was slated to tour but had to cancel all dates due to Jones’ fiance, Christina Cetta, battling with cancer. A GoFundMe was started in her name to raise $100,000 for her treatment, with Falling in Reverse providing merchandise to those that donated. However, Cetta later passed away from resulting complications in November of 2019.

“Music always felt natural,” Jones told AltPress back in 2012. “It made me feel good about myself and makes me happier than anything else I’ve tried out there.” In the same interview, he also cited the influences that helped inspire him along the way. “Growing up I was heavily influenced by punk rock and political punk rock. As far as an influence to this day, and from the beginning, I’ve always looked up to AFI and Swedish metal bands such as At The Gates and Soilwork.”

Jones was born in Lake Forest, California on June 5, 1984. After starting his interest in music with the saxophone, he soon switched to guitar. By the age of 19, he had gone on his first tour. Prior to his time with Falling in Reverse, he played guitar in A Smile From The Trenches, which he left in 2010.