Paul Hester

Paul Newell Hester ( born January 8, 1959 in Melbourne, † 26 March 2005 in Melbourne) was an Australian pop musicians. His greatest successes came as drummer of the band Split Enz and Crowded House.

Hester has been intensively promoted at a young age by his mother, even Jazzschlagzeugerin. His talent with the drums quickly became apparent. After he had first struck by a variety of jobs, he decided at the beginning of the 1980s for a career as a musician.

In 1980 he co-founded the band Cheks, which changed its name in 1982 in Deckchairs Overboard. As the New Zealand band Split Enz end of 1983 looking for a new drummer, Hester took on a proposal by Rob Hirst, drummer of the band Midnight Oil, on a sample session in part, and then became a new member.

After the dissolution of Split Enz in 1984, Hester and Neil Finn decided to form a new band, the birth of Crowded House. With her he celebrated international successes. The debut single, Do not Dream It's Over peaked at # 2 on the U.S. Billboard charts. The first album reached number 12

When the pressure of constant touring and the desire to spend more time with his newborn daughter, became larger, Hester rose in 1994 from the band with which he did in 1996 again was a big farewell concert. After that, he was a frequent guest in Australian television and radio shows and opened a restaurant in Elwood Beach. After his musical break, he joined the band Largest Living Things, with whom he published several EPs in Australia.

Hester, who suffered for years from depression, took his own age of 46 in a park in Melbourne by hanging himself life. He is survived by his girlfriend Mardi and two daughters aged eight and ten years.