Brad Fischetti, the last living member of LFO, has broken his silence after bandmate Devin Lima‘s death.
“Harold ‘Devin’ Lima passed away early this morning after a valiant battle with cancer,” Fischetti, 43, confirmed in the emotional video posted to YouTube on Wednesday. “He will be greatly missed by many.”
“For me, he was a brother. To his six kids, he was a father, to their mother, a wonderful partner,” the singer continued. “He was a son, a brother, a friend and beloved by so many. He was an extraordinary talent and a beautiful man.”
“I will miss him and I will honor him and I know right now he stands in the presence of greatness in the midst of heaven talking to Jesus saying, ‘Hey watch out for my friends,’” he finished. “That’s where I find peace.”
Underneath the video, in which the musician wears an LFO shirt and sits alongside two pairs of Adidas sneakers — seemingly belonging to Lima and his other late bandmate Rich Cronin — Fischetti thanked the fans for their support and passed along an anecdote from Lima just days before his passing.
“On behalf of the LFO family, thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love from friends, family, fans, media, and those in the music industry,” he wrote. “A few days before he passed away he said to me, ‘Bro, when it’s over, just tell them I disappeared.’ My friends – Harold ‘Devin’ Lima has disappeared.”
RELATED: LFO Singer Devin Lima Dead at 41 Following Cancer Battle: Report
Lima died Wednesday at 41 years old — some 13 months after he had surgery to remove a football-size tumor caused by stage-four adrenal cancer.
At the time of Lima’s surgery, Fischetti told fans on YouTube that the “surgery was great. The tumor was the size of a football. But [the surgery] was smooth, they didn’t have to take out some of the organs they thought they would.”
The band first revealed Lima’s health battle in earlier YouTube video, explaining that they were hoping to announce the next leg of their Rich in Love tour but instead had to postpone that announcement due to Lima’s “serious” health problems.
“I don’t feel like it’s some kind of cancer, I don’t feel like that. [It’s] just got to come out,” Lima said. “The lesson is, it’s great to be holistic and have positive vibes. I’ve cured a lot with just my mind. But it’s good to have checkups. It’s good to also have a physician and get checkups throughout your life. I could have maybe spotted this earlier but the pain only kicked in three weeks ago. And I tried different things to let it go away. It’s time to go in.”
RELATED: Cancer Claims Two-Thirds of LFO — What Devin Lima and Rich Cronin Said About Their Health Battles
About 10 days after the surgery, Fischetti shared with fans that Lima was diagnosed with “primary adrenal cancer, meaning it started in the adrenal gland, which is really rare.”
He began: “Devin asked me to give you this update without him because, frankly, he’s not feeling very well. But, he asked me to send you his love and gratitude for all the love and prayers you’ve sent his way. He’s had a tough recovery. He had a few really difficult days in the hospital, but thankfully, he’s home now, resting and healing.”
Fischetti went on: “I wish we had better news to share. It’s devastating news but at the same time, there’s nobody I know stronger than Devin Lima. No one has a stronger body, mind or soul. If anybody can defeat this, it’s Devin. I know with your prayers and your thoughts and your positive energy coming down his way, there’s no doubt that he will beat it.”
Lima’s death comes eight years after fellow bandmate Rich Cronin died from leukemia at age 36.
A year after he was diagnosed, Cronin told Entertainment Weekly, “I am truly thankful for the success I had. And if it happens again, that’d be really nice. I’m just that same guy writing pop songs to make people happy. And I still only like girls in Abercrombie & Fitch,” a reference to the most famous line in “Summer Girls,” which Cronin penned.
RELATED VIDEO: LFO’s Devin Lima Diagnosed With Stage 4 Cancer Following Tumor Removal
After success in the late 1990s, the band split in 2002. But in 2009, they reunited for a reunion tour in 2009.
Though Lima and Fischetti had to help Cronin get dressed before shows and occasionally carry him to the stage, they told EW it was more of an honor than an annoyance.
“He was so happy,” Fischetti said in 2010. “We really became soulmates. Devin and I both realized how much we loved him, despite the differences we had in the past.”
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