Chi Cheng, (July 15, 1970 – April 13, 2013) was an American musician, best known as the bassist for the American rock band Deftones.

 

Biography

Cheng went to school for a little while at CSU Sacramento. He was the author of a collection of poetry titled The Bamboo Parachutereleased in 2000 as a spoken word album. He had a wife, Colleen, and a son with ex-wife Adrienne. He was also a practicing Buddhist, and maintained an interest in Taoism and Shamanism.

Cheng also sponsors a community service group based out of the band's hometown of Sacramento, California. The group aids homeless citizens in developing their musical talents, among other things. Cheng was also a vegetarian. During college, he read No Denial!: A Handbook for Becoming a Socially, Environmentally, and Personally Responsible Citizen of the Planet by Neill S. Cohen and decided to make the switch.

 

Car accident

Cheng was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Santa Clara, California, on November 4, 2008. Cheng had been traveling with his sister, Mae, when their vehicle flipped three times after hitting another car going 60 mph. Cheng, who was in the passenger seat, was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. Mae sustained minor injuries, as she had been wearing her seat belt. She attended to Cheng, holding his head until two off-duty EMTs, who happened to have their medical equipment, rendered aid. They were able to insert a tube into Cheng's throat to help him breathe until the ambulance arrived, an action that doctors later said helped him survive. The accident left Cheng in a coma.

Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno stated on the Deftones' blog:

It deeply saddens me to inform you all that our brother Chi Cheng was involved in a terrible car accident last night. He is currently in a Northern California Hospital in serious, but stable condition. I am on my way up North right now to be by his side along with the rest of our band mates and family. Chi is one of the strongest people I know, and I'm praying that his strength will get him through this. Please say a prayer for him as well.

In February 2009, Deftones announced that they would perform as scheduled at the Bamboozle Left music festival in April, with their friend Sergio Vega (formerly of Quicksand) filling in for Cheng on stage.[5][6] Vega has since performed and recorded regularly with Deftones, including on the 2010 album Diamond Eyes and its follow-up Koi No Yokan.

On April 26, 2009, Cheng was readmitted to ICU following a near-fatal septicemia infection; he survived the infection following treatment and was released from ICU about a week later.[8]Following the release, a rumor started to spread in early May that Cheng had awakened fully from his coma but this was denied on oneloveforchi.com, stating that Cheng is in a semi-conscious state. On August 18, Cheng underwent surgery to replace a bone flap in his skull that had been removed after the accident, in order to relieve intracranial pressure.

Oneloveforchi.com was created in March to help raise funds for Cheng and his medical expenses, where fans can donate to help towards an initial target of $20,000 (later raised to $50,000, $100,000 and then again to $500,000 in 2010). It is also a place where fans can read personal blogs and comments from the Cheng family, and record a message that will be played to Cheng to further speed his recovery. In late April, PETA announced that 20% of the income from a "Happy Families, Not Happy Meals" T-shirt designed by Chi would go to the One Love For Chi foundation. There is also a "Get well soon" card on MySpace for Cheng that fans from all over the world can sign by posting comments. Fans and some rock celebrities have posted comments, including Sonic Youth, Thursday, The Used, Ill Niño, and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst.

On April 27, Shepard Fairey put three signed copies of his Obama inauguration posters up for auction on eBay, with the proceeds of the auction going to the One Love For Chi foundation.

Long time friend and fellow bassist Fieldy of Korn has recorded an instrumental song along with other musicians. All proceeds will be donated to Chi's family. The song, titled "A Song for Chi", was released for free via digital download on its official website where donations to Cheng and his family are also accepted. A few months later, in October, Răzvan Rădulescu (aka DJ Hefe) of the Romanian nu metal band Coma, released a compilation album titled From Eastern Europe with Love, featuring bands from Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria,Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia - the proceeds from the sale of the album will also go to the One Love For Chi foundation.

Deftones played a two-night benefit show on November 19–20 at Avalon in Hollywood. Proceeds went to the Chi Ling Cheng Special Needs Trust. Guests included Far, Cypress Hill,Rodleen Getsic, Ben Kenney, Greg Puciato, Rick Verret, Tommy Lee, Mike Shinoda, P.O.D., Mark McGrath, Xzibit, Robert Trujillo, Rocky George and Mike Muir (Suicidal Tendencies),Dave Lombardo, Alexi Laiho, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, John Dolmayan, and Max Cavalera.

In May 2010, Chi Cheng began showing significant signs of improvement, and was able to track individual people with his eyes, occasionally make worded responses, and slightly move his hands. Chino Moreno stated that the Cheng family would be paying a doctor with the International Brain Research Foundation, who is experienced in the field of coma and trauma patients using funds raised through the oneloveforchi website to use an experimental medicine to bring Chi out of his coma-like state. The treatment has an 84% success rate. In May 2011, Cheng began undergoing rehabilitation and additional operations in New Jersey.

On February 7, 2012 it was reported that Cheng was in a partially conscious state, having the ability to move his legs on command; however, he was unable to move independently or speak in sentences. Two days after being released from the hospital, in June 2012, Cheng was diagnosed with pneumonia and rushed to the ICU. On July 4th, Cheng was released from the ICU and was undergoing recovery at his home.

On April 13th, 2013, it was posted on fellow band member Chino Moreno's Facebook page that Chi had passed away. A separate statement was posted on oneloveforchi.com. No official cause of death has been announced.

 

Basses

Cheng exclusively used Fender Basses. On tour, Cheng used around 5 or 6 basses. His main basses were two '59 Fender Precision BassReissues which both feature a Precision Bass Split-coil Pickup (Mid), and a Humbucking Pickup (Bridge); made by Alex Perez of the Fender Custom Shop. Cheng also used a '51 Fender Precision Bass tuned in EADG, as well as a Music Man StingRay bass for all Adrenaline songs.

Cheng occasionally made innovative use of a fretless 4 string Precision Bass with a single EMG split pickup (mid). The smooth slides can be heard on tracks such as "Knife Party" from the album White Pony.

Although he generally prefers to stick to 4-Strings, Cheng acknowledged that he pulled out a couple of Fender 5-Strings during the making o fDeftones' self-titled album. Ever since, until the accident, he played a Fender Roscoe Beck V 5-String Bass when performing live

 

 

Amplifiers and effects

Cheng used two 300-watt, all-tube Ampeg SVT 2 Pro Heads, two Ampeg 8x10 Cabinets and a rack-mounted Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 for extra distortion. He also used a Boss OD-3 OverDrive and Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble pedals.

 

 

Accessories

• Fender heavy-gauge (.065-.120) Strings
• Sennheiser Wireless System

 

Solo

• The Bamboo Parachute (2000)

 

With Deftones For a more comprehensive list, see Deftones discography.

• Adrenaline (1995)
• Around the Fur (1997)
• White Pony (2000)
• Deftones (2003)
• Saturday Night Wrist (2006)
• Eros (TBD)

 

Guest appearances

• Live at the Fillmore by Dredg (2006)

 

In popular culture

• Korn has a song titled "Chi" from their second album Life Is Peachy (1996), which is named after Cheng.
• Dredg dedicated their 2009 album The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion to Cheng, who had previously been a special guest on Dredg's 2006 live album Live at the Fillmore.
• Far frontman, Jonah Matranga, has stated that the title track "At Night We Live" from their 2010 album, is inspired by a dream he had, shortly following a hospital visit to see Cheng.