Cancer claimed Chuck Varga on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, at 68; a founding member of the shock-rock heavy metal band GWAR, he prowled its stages as the character Sexecutioner. Casey Orr, the GWAR bassist who performs as Beefcake the Mighty, announced the death.

Orr wrote on Facebook: “Chuck Varga has left this earthly realm. He passed peacefully, his beloved wife Bambi holding his hand. He was one of a kind. As an artist, as a performer; as a scholar and a gentleman,” adding that the world “is lesser for his leaving.”

Orr said Varga was likely being “welcomed into Valhalla right now by Brockie and Smooty and all who went before.” The names belong to two GWAR members who died before him: co-founder and frontman Dave Brockie, who performed as Oderus Urungus, and guitarist Cory Smoot, who played Flattus Maximus. Orr also wrote, “Legends never die. Hail Varga! Hail Sexicutioner!” He asked fans to raise a glass and tell stories about him.

Brooklyn, N.Y., was where Varga made his home. His wife, Bambi, survives him, and complete information on other survivors was not immediately available.

Band Pays Tribute on Instagram

GWAR paid tribute on Instagram on Sept. 27, calling Varga an artist, a vocalist and “a brother to everyone in the band.” The band wrote: “There are some losses that hit harder than others. The world lost Chuck Varga a few days ago, and GWAR lost one of its own.”

Diagnosis Public Since April

His bandmates made the diagnosis public in April by launching a nationwide blood donation campaign, with donors receiving a limited-edition shirt he designed. The band followed in June with a fundraiser aimed at helping Varga and his wife cover medical, hospice and housing costs.

GWAR member Bob Gorman, who plays Bonesnapper, said at the time: “Chuck Varga’s contributions to the Gwar and Slave Pit collective are enormous.” He also said, “The influence of his illustrations, character designs, performances, and artistic vision can still be felt throughout Gwar today.”

From the Slave Pit Onward

Varga was born in Virginia in 1958, and at Virginia Commonwealth University he struck up a friendship with fellow student Hunter Jackson. Jackson had set up a production space called the Slave Pit to make a science-fiction film, and the musicians, artists and filmmakers who gathered there drew Varga in and gave rise to GWAR, which he helped form in 1985 and in which he played the Sexecutioner from 1985 to 2021. The catalog of the costume-wearing act included “Sick of You” and “Madness at the Core of Time.”

GWAR fused heavy metal with science fiction and Norse mythology, in Kiss-style costumes taken to violent and grotesque extremes. Known for outlandish getups and intentionally offensive lyrics, the group won over audiences around Richmond first and built a national following afterward. Varga drew its characters and built its props, and as the Sexecutioner he sang lead on his signature songs, including “Sexecutioner” and “Ragnarok.”

As Sexecutioner, Varga was part of eight major touring productions and co-authored two feature-length films, including the Grammy-nominated “Phallus in Wonderland.” He was responsible for designing costumes, sets, props and comic book narratives for the GWAR universe, and he worked as a sculptor and set designer.

Varga performed with GWAR through the band’s breakthrough years, from the mid-1980s until 1997. The debut album “Hell-O” arrived in 1988, and 1992’s “America Must Be Destroyed” cracked the Billboard 200. GWAR drew a nomination in 1993 for Best Long Form Music Video for “Phallus in Wonderland,” losing to Annie Lennox, and a second Grammy nomination in 1996 for Best Metal Performance for the single “S.F.W.”; that category went to Nine Inch Nails. Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart put the band’s 2013 release “Battle Maximus” as high as No. 7.

Brockie, who co-founded the band while attending Virginia Commonwealth University, died at 50 on March 23, 2014.

Film, television and Broadway work drew Varga to New York City after he left the band in 1997. His Slave Pit Studio production company website says he moved to New York City in 1997 to work on Broadway and feature films, and he described himself on the site as a comic book illustrator, special effects designer and sculptor.

He co-founded Hypereal Productions, a costume and set design company, with fellow GWAR alumnus Don Drakulich. He returned for stints with the band from 2000 to 2002 and from 2014 to 2017, and he retired from the stage after GWAR’s Halloween Scumdog Reunion in 2021, according to the band.

Tour Set for Late October

As of Sept. 30, no cause of death had been disclosed, and the band had not announced whether Varga’s death would affect its October performances. GWAR begins its “Gor Gor Must Die!” tour on Oct. 27 in Charlottesville, Va.