Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe reflected on the cruise ship death of his fiancee Kimberly Burch in a recent interview with Eddie Trunk, expressing hope that his band’s newly launched tour will prove therapeutic in his grieving process.
“It’s a roller coaster,” Downe told Trunk on a May 30 episode of Faction Talk on SiriusXM. “I’m hanging in there. I’m just taking it a day at a time. And everybody thought going out on the road and doing what I do and being with my family in my band would be good for me. So I’ve taken their advice and [I’m] doing this.”
Burch, who had been engaged to Downe since 2022, went overboard The ’80s Cruise in March as the ship was heading from Miami to the Bahamas. She was 56. Shortly after the tragedy, The Hollywood Reporter published an article alleging that security footage showed Burch jumping from the ship, and that Downe had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Taime Downe Says Fiancee’s Death Has Reinforced His Sobriety
Trunk noted during his conversation with Downe that fans were worried the death of Burch would jeopardize the singer’s sobriety. On the contrary, Downe said, the tragedy has only reinforced his sobriety.
“What happened with Kimberly, too, it was alcohol and prescription-related,” he said. “So I blame alcohol and pills on it. There’s no way I’d touch booze. For me, that’s just completely disgusting in my brain, you know what I mean? So I’ve got some hatred for booze, ’cause I loved the hell out of Kimberly, and it was just hard to deal with. We spent basically nine years together.”
READ MORE: Who Are the ‘Big 4’ of Hair Metal?
“I don’t wanna get into what her psyche was at the time, but there’s a lot of things that make up people’s lives at a certain time of their life,” he added. “It’s been hard on everybody.”
Faster Pussycat kicked off their current tour on May 30 at Count’s Vamp’d Rock Bar & Grill in Las Vegas. They’ll be on the road through early July.
“I just think it’ll be very therapeutic to get to see a bunch of fans and a bunch of friends across the country,” Downe said. “So I think it’ll be helpful.”
