John Hinckley Foster was born, as far as these things can be assessed, in 1963, in Wilkes-Barre, Penn.. He was of absolutely no interest to anyone in the world until after the 1982 attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. Foster was constant ly tormented by the idea that his two names, his existence, had somehow contributed to John Hinckley's dangerous fascination with actress Jodie Foster.
Foster dropped out of society, afraid that he could have such negative influence upon the world again. Years later, Foster reappeared as the frontman of a band called "Lovedeath", which was the first band to come out of the influential "Misery Rock" move ment of the late 1990's in New York's East Village. The "Misery Rock" movement, named for Lovedeath's first hit single, was heavily tied into a new resurgence of heroin chic at the same time, though Foster himself was adamantly opposed to drug use among his fans. Things fell apart during the horrific scene in the fall of 1999, when Lovedeath made its first appearance at Madison Square Garden. At least thirty-five fans overdosed on heroin that had been cut with an industrial solvent.
Later, after being financially wiped out by lawsuits stemming from the mass overdose, Foster again dropped out of sight. For a few years, reporters would track him down working for suicide prevention hotlines, in cancer wards, and in detox clinics. Even tually, though, with Lovedeath's music banned from the radio (not even the ACLU would defend the blacklist), Foster's fame faded.
He was killed in early 2005,
attempting to talk a meth junkie out of an armed robbery at a 7-11 in
Bangor, Maine. The exact location of his grave is unsure, but an unmarked
gravestone has become the destination for many latter-day followers of
Lovedeath's music, similar to the way Jim Morrison's grave is treated.
