Darrell Roberts, the father of former 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts, has revealed further details surrounding his son’s death at the age of 38, as fans the world over mourn his untimely loss.
Speaking to CNN, Darrell Roberts opens about about his son’s battle with addictive prescription drugs, which is being examined as a possible cause of death.
“He suffered greatly from anxiety,” Mr Roberts says, adding that his son “never liked crowds or liked places he didn’t know about as a baby, as a child, and this was his way of dealing with it and me and him talked about it often… I thought he had beaten it all”.
Mr Roberts says the pair were travelling together and had stopped off in West Bend, Wisconsin, taking connecting hotel rooms. It’s been reported that Matt rehearsed for a charity gig until about 1am that morning, before retiring to bed.
“He opened the door for me,” Mr Roberts says. “He said, ‘Just make sure you open the adjoining room in case you need anything.’ He was always looking out for me.”
Hours later, detectives knocked on Mr Roberts’ door in the early morning. “They asked me if Matt Roberts was your son, I said yes, and they said, ‘We have bad news to tell you, Matt deceased last night.'”
A founding member of 3 Doors Down, Roberts parted ways with the band in 2012 to focus on his health, after the group’s hectic touring schedule began to take its toll. Roberts’ body was found at the weekend, with local police saying emergency responders attempted to revive him at the scene but were unsuccessful.
In a statement posted to Facebook, 3 Doors Down’s Brad Arnold says, “Words cannot express our sadness as we hear of the loss of our brother, Matt. He was a truly talented artist and great friend. His memory will live on through the songs we all created. He will be greatly missed.”
Watch: 3 Doors Down – ‘Here Without You’
