SUBLIME'S JAKOB NOWELL CARRYING ON MY FATHER'S LEGACY

THE BAND'S FRONTMAN BRADLEY NOWELL DIED OF A HEROIN OVERDOSE IN 1996. NOW HIS SON JAKOB TAKES HIS DAD'S PLACE AFTER FACING HIS OWN ADDICTION ISSUES 

- JORDAN RUNTAGH

Whenever Jakob Nowell visits the Bay Area, he makes a pilgrimage to Petaluma’s Phoenix Theater to see the stage where his father, Bradley, gave his last performance as the frontman of altrock act Sublime. The day after his final show, on May 25, 1996, Bradley died of a heroin overdose in an area motel, leaving behind his wife and Jakob, 11 months. Now 28, the same age as his father when he died, Jakob is set to make his debut as Sublime’s new singer at Coachella on April 13, alongside original members Bud Gaugh on drums and bassist Eric Wilson. “This is my family,” he says. “I consider the bandmates in Sublime like my uncles.”