The marquee outside of the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas is adorned with the name of John Entwistle on June 27, 2002, after Entwistle, bassist for The Who, was found dead in his hotel room. (The Associated Press/File)
The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend perform in the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in 2002, two and a half months after bassist John Entwistle died at the hotel. (Las Vegas Review-Journal/File)
The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend perform in the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in 2002, two and a half months after bassist John Entwistle died from a cocaine overdose at the hotel. (Las Vegas Review-Journal/File)
Steve Havens of Las Vegas places a flower at a memorial for The Who bass player John Entwistle at the entrance to The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on June 27, 2002. Entwistle, who died in his sleep at the hotel, was scheduled to launch a tour with The Who at The Joint. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Jim Manes of Las Vegas shows poses with his first album, The Who, Who’s Next, at a memorial for The Who bass player John Entwistle on June 27, 2002, at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where Entwistle died in his sleep. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Rocky O’Nan cleans a self-portrait of John Entwistle at The Art of Music at the Desert Passage Mall in the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas on June 27, 2002, after Entwistle’s death in Las Vegas. The Art of Music sells artwork by famous music artists, and half of the store is hung with Entwistle’s artwork. (The Associated Press/File)
A room service cart is shown next to Room 658 at the Hard Rock Hotel on September 28, 2007, in Las Vegas. The room is allegedly where John Entwistle, member of the band The Who, died in 2002. (Las Vegas Review-Journal/File)
The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, left, and singer Roger Daltry leave the funeral of the group’s bass player, John Entwistle, at St. Edward’s Church, Stow-on-the-Wold, England, on July 10, 2002. The 57-year-old Entwistle was found dead in his hotel room in Las Vegas in June 2002 on the eve of a U.S. tour by the group.(AP Photo/Barry Batchelor/File)
The Who bassist John Entwistle performs in concert in this Aug. 25, 2000 file photo in Albuquerque, N.M. Entwistle, 57, was found dead in 2002 in his Las Vegas hotel room, according to officials with MCA Records and the Clark County Coroner’s Office. (AP Photo/Pat Vasquez-Cunningham, File)
Roger Daltry, left, Peter Townshend, center, and John Entwistle, original members of The Who, hold a news conference on April 24, 1989 in New York. They announced they would reunite for a 25-city 25th anniversary North American tour. (AP Photo/Mario Suriani)
John Entwistle of The Who holds a poster on July 5, 1989, in New York for his group’s upcoming pay-per-view television performance of their rock opera “Tommy”. The concert, broadcast from the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, was part of the group’s reunion tour. (AP Photo)
Members of The Who take questions at a news conference on Oct. 29, 1982. From left: John Entwistle, Peter Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and Kenney Jones. (AP Photo/Cyrena Chang)
It was 20 years ago Monday when “The Ox” exited the stage in Las Vegas at age 57.
“John Entwistle, the quiet bassist who co-founded The Who and helped anchor the British rock band’s explosive performances with his precise playing, was found dead of an apparent heart attack in his suite at the Hard Rock Hotel,” the Review-Journal reported on June 28, 2002, the day after the tragedy.
The medical examiner would later determine that his heart attack was brought on by cocaine.
The band was in town to begin a three-month North American tour at the hotel when Entwistle, nicknamed “The Ox,” was found unresponsive in his bed in that sixth-floor suite around noon.
The surviving members of the band — Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey — postponed their tour, returning to the Joint 2½ months later to soldier on.
The band has continued to tour and record in the two decades since Entwistle’s death. The Who is scheduled to play Dolby Live at Park MGM on Nov. 4-5.
