Allen Shellenberger: Founder of Lit Dies of Malignant Glioma

by Jordan Yerman | August 14, 2009 at 10:36 am

543 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Allen Shellenberger, drummer and founding member of Lit, died at age 39 following a long battle with brain cancer. Lit had a number-one hit with My Own Worst Enemy in 1999, making their debut record, Sun, a bestseller. Lit released Atomic in 2001, followed by two more albums in 2004.

When Allen Shellenberger was diagnosed with a malignant glioma brain tumor, his bandmates struggled to raise money to pay for his treatment, throwing benefit concerts and holding online rock memorabilia auctions with the help of other prominent rock acts, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queens of the Stone Age.

Shellenberger founded Lit in Fullerton, California, during the early 1990s (first as a glam-rock outfit called Razzle) alongside brothers A. Jay and Jeremy Popoff and bassist Kevin Baldes. The quartet released a handful of albums before breaking through in 1999 with the modern-rock hit "My Own Worst Enemy," from their A Place in the Sun album.

Allen Shellenberger is survived by his father, Paul Shellenberge; his mother Connie James; and his daughter, Giovanna Mackey.