Chi Cheng

Chi Ling Dai Cheng (July 15, 1970 – April 13, 2013) was an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for the alternative metal band Deftones.

Cheng was born in July 1970 in Stockton, California, to Jeanne and Yin Yan Cheng.

His father, a prominent Stockton cardiologist, was a Chinese immigrant while his mother is American.

Cheng graduated from Tokay High School and attended California State University, Sacramento, enrolling in 1989.

He worked on campus, wrote poetry, and played with his band Deftones during the course of his education.

Cheng was studying English at Sacramento State when he joined Deftones.

He would continue on as a poet and spoken word artist through his career with the band, often recording the spoken word with the intent for release later.

He joined the band in 1990, and stayed with them until his career ended in 2008, when he was involved in a serious automobile crash in Santa Clara, California, while not wearing a seat belt.

He also authored an anthology of poetry titled The Bamboo Parachute, which was released as his debut and only album during his lifetime in 2000 as a spoken word album.

Cheng gave proceeds from the CD to various charities and to buy musical instruments for kids in the Sacramento area.

The 2001's previously unreleased Sacramento spoken word was released as his second and posthumously released album called The Headup Project in January 2021.

Cheng was an acclaimed bass player but his approach to bass in Deftones sometimes caused slight conflict.

In the August 2003 edition of Bass Guitar magazine, he told writer Joel McIver: "I get a lot of grief from Stephen anyway – he says, why don't you just play along with my guitar riff? And I'm like, why don't you fuckin' piss off? Haha. He's like, can’t you just play along? ...I remember on our song 'Change (In The House Of Flies)', him and Terry Date said, oh no, you're not gonna play that goofy dub-reggae bass-line, are you? And I was like, yes, that's exactly what I'm gonna play! And then it became a really big song for us, so I was like, okay, now let me write the fuckin' way I write."

Cheng has cited bassists Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, and Steve Harris as the fundamental influences on his bass playing.

Cheng was a practicing Buddhist and maintained an interest in Taoism and Shamanism.

In addition to his conversion to Buddhism during his university years, he also became a vegetarian.

Cheng had one son, Gabriel Cheng, from a previous marriage.

Cheng was seriously injured in an automobile crash in Santa Clara, California, on November 4, 2008, while returning from his brother's memorial service.

Cheng was traveling with his sister, Mae, when their vehicle flipped three times after hitting another car going 60 mph. Cheng, who was in the passenger seat, was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle.

Mae was wearing a seatbelt and sustained minor injuries.

She attended to Cheng, holding his head until two off-duty paramedics rendered aid.

They were able to insert a tube into Cheng's throat to help him breathe until the ambulance arrived, an action that doctors later said helped him survive.

The crash left Cheng in a coma.

In February 2009, Deftones announced that they would perform as scheduled at the Bamboozle Left music festival in April, with their friend Sergio Vega (formerly of Quicksand) filling in for Cheng on stage.

Vega eventually became Cheng's full-time replacement.

On April 26, 2009, Cheng was readmitted to ICU following a near-fatal sepsis infection; he survived the infection following treatment and was released from ICU about a week later.

Following the release, a rumor started to spread in early May that Cheng had awakened fully from his coma but this was denied on oneloveforchi.com, stating that Cheng was in a semi-conscious state.

On August 18, Cheng underwent surgery to replace a bone flap in his skull that had been removed after the crash, in order to relieve intracranial pressure.

On April 27, Shepard Fairey put three signed copies of his Obama inauguration posters up for auction on eBay, with the proceeds of the auction going to the One Love for Chi Foundation.

Long-time friend Fieldy of Korn recorded an instrumental song titled "A Song for Chi".

It was released for free via digital download on its official website where donations to Cheng and his family are also accepted.

A few months later, in October, Răzvan Rădulescu (aka DJ Hefe) of the Romanian nu metal band Coma released a compilation album titled From Eastern Europe with Love, featuring bands from Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Serbia – the proceeds from the sale of the album also went to the One Love for Chi foundation.

Deftones played a two-night benefit show on November 19–20 at Avalon in Hollywood.

The website Oneloveforchi.com was created in March to help raise funds for Cheng and his medical expenses, where fans could donate to help towards an initial target of $20,000 (later raised to $50,000, $100,000 and then again to $500,000 in 2010).

Fans could also read personal blogs and comments from the Cheng family, and record a message that would be played to Cheng to further speed his recovery.

In late April, PETA announced that 20% of the income from a "Happy Families, Not Happy Meals" T-shirt designed by Chi would go to the One Love for Chi foundation.

There was also a "Get well soon" card on MySpace for Cheng that fans from all over the world could sign by posting comments.

Fans and some rock celebrities posted comments, including Sonic Youth, Thursday, The Used, Ill Niño, and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst.

After the crash, he remained in a semi-comatose state before dying of cardiac arrest in April 2013.

After Cheng's hospitalization, a friend of the band, Sergio Vega, became the band's full-time bassist until 2021, having previously filled in for Cheng.