After dying at the age of 30 last Friday, Jan Werner is now going to his final resting place today. There will be an open memorial today at 1pm (Norwegian time - 12noon UK time) in Oslo, but the funeral itself will be for his closest family only. In the same church he was both baptised and his confirmation was held.
The cause of his death has been said to be natural. He was a large man, he had a classic body for heartfailure - and not only that, he was born with too large lungs. Yeah, no shit, right? No wonder he could do 4 1/2 octaves. But the way he used them put a strain on his heart and they think his heart just gave up in the end. 15 years of stress, concerts, tours every year, appearances, five very vocally challenging albums - he just finished the fifth that will be released later this year. Have a listen to a clip from "My Love" from the unreleased album "Stronger".
These past ten days have been odd. I've spoken to a lot of people, and they all seem to be in shock, disbelief and feel real grief. Over a man most of them didn't know and didn't really listen to. To suffer a natural death at the age of 30 isn't only scary as hell, it's such a waste. I can't even begin to imagine where he could have ended up if his confidence had taken him outside the boundaries of Norway. He was scheduled to appear in the US and Canada next year...
A statement he made last year:
"I hope to perform a few concerts and at a few events in 2006. I know myself well enough to know that without singing I will not survive :-("
R.I.P. Jan Werner - 1976 - 2006
