Lou "L.A." Kouvaris, the original guitarist for the band Riot, and a member of Riot Act, dies at age 65.
In a post on Riot's official Facebook page, it says, "RIOT has lost another brother". It recalls how Lou played from their first studio record "Rock City" and has reunited with their current lineup "many times as we are Family".
"Rest in Power Lou! Now start working on music with Guy Mark and Rhett! Shine on Warrior!" The post refers to Riot members Guy Speranza, Riot's original frontman; Mark Reale, founder and mainstay lead guitarist; and Rhett Forrester, Speranza's successor in the lead vocals. After Reale's death, the band was relaunched and changed its name to Riot V in 2012, joined by their fifth official vocalist, Todd Michael Hall.
While there has been no official statement regarding the Riot guitarist's death, with the Facebook post also not specifying anything, Riot's manager, Giles Lavery, disclosed that Kouvaris developed symptoms for Covid 19 about a week ago, multiple sources report.
Lou was born on April 20, 1954 in Piraeus, Greece, his family moved to the United States when he was young. By the late 1960's, he had been playing with local rock bands before joining Riot in 1975. L.A Kouvaris was among the initial line up of Riot when it was founded by Mark Reale in New York City, playing rhythm guitar. He played for the tracks on the band's debut album, "Rock City", released in November 1977.
He also wrote several songs for the band's sophomore album, "Narita". However, Kouvaris left the band during recording, being replaced by Rick Ventura.
Lou Kouvaris would then play for different bands, including "Satelite" in 1978 and "Sweetalk" until 1980. Kouvaris also played for the "Village People", recording as a studio guitarist for Can't Stop Productions by Jacques Morali. In 1985, he would sign up as Musical Director for the 1987 movie "Hot Shot", which starred football legend Pele.
As a seasoned guitarist, Kouvaris also toured with Steve Perry's "Journey", The Outlaws, Tom Petty, and the Heartbreakers, as well as artist Neil Young, and "The Godfather of Shock Rock" Alice Cooper.
Just last year, Lou Kouvaris teamed up with another former Riot guitarist Rick Ventura to form "Riot Act". The group performed songs focused on Riot's first three albums: "Rock City", "Narita", and Riot's biggest selling album "Fire Down Under". They performed at the 2020 Metal Hall of Fame held last January.
Kouvaris would be the fourth Riot member to pass away. In November of 2003, original frontman Guy Speranza died from pancreatic cancer. Riot founder and mainstay Mark Reale died in January 2012 due to complications of Crohn's disease, a type of inflammatory bowel condition Reale has battled with for most of his life. Rhett Forrester, Riot's vocalist from 1981 to 1984, was murdered in Atlanta, Georgia, in January 1994. Forrester, then 37, was shot and killed after refusing to give up his car in a carjacking attempt.
