Al Barile, founding member and guitar player for original Boston Straight Edge band SSD, has passed away. The announcement was released by his wife Nancy Barile. Barile had been admitted to hospital last week as the result of a fever that turned out to be a blood infection related to sepsis.
From the Nancy Barile Instagram:
Hi Everyone, I wanted to let you know that Al Barile passed away this morning. I was with him. You all know he fought a hard, hard battle. He spent his last day with Chris, Jaime, Angie, and his best, dear friend Scott, and me, and even though he was on comfort care, it was clear he knew we were all there, and he was so happy about that. I never met anyone who was his own person as much as Al was. No one made me laugh more. There was always a story. We loved each other unbelievably, and my heart is crushed into a million pieces. I am so incredibly grateful for our 43 years together. I can’t even think of how to go on without him, but I know he will ALWAYS be with me. I take great comfort especially, in knowing he and Flippy are now reunited. I want you all to know how much Al appreciated your outpouring of love to him. It truly meant a great deal to him. You know I will have a lot to say about Al’s time on this earth and his impact and his legacy, as the days go on, but for now, I’m going to need some time to be with my closest friends and family.
SSD was founded in Boston in 1981, and released a number of notable records, included the seminal 'The Kids Will Have Their Say' on X-Claim in 1982. In lieu of flowers, donations have been requested to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where Al had received treatment following a 2023 cancer diagnosis:
OK, so I have a story already. So yesterday immediately after Al passed, I had to make the difficult call to Boston Cremation because it was Al’s wish to be cremated, with no funeral or service. They call me back, and the person says “This is Brian. I’m going to do your intake. I need your name and the deceased name.” So I give him the information, and he pauses and says, “I have a question for you,” and I say “Go ahead,” and he says, “Is this THE Al Barile?” I said “You mean like from punk rock?” And he says “Yes, from SS Decontrol?” And I said “Yes, yes it is.” He said “SSD changed my life. Don’t you worry about anything. I will help you do this and take care of everything. If you need anything, just let me know.” Oh my God, it was like the warm hug that I needed, only a few minutes after Al passed away. The universe is so funny. Thank you so much to the literally thousands of people who reached out to me and to all who wrote such beautiful posts about Al. I am so overwhelmed, but I feel so happy to see Al‘s legacy celebrated everywhere. As I said, Al did not want service. I do not like flowers. If anyone wanted to do something for Al, you could send something to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. You could get your colonoscopy. You could ask your congressperson to bring back the cancer research Trump has halted. He would really like that.
