Marcie Free \u2014 the powerhouse vocalist behind King Kobra, Signal, and Unruly Child \u2014 has died at the age of 71.<\/p>\n
A marvel to behold
\nHer death was confirmed on Friday by longtime friend and drummer Jay Schellen, who performed with Free in Unruly Child. A cause of death has not been made public.<\/p>\n
Marcie was a marvel to behold. A voice that had no limits and no equal, a truly singular talent and one of the most open and beautiful souls I have ever known,\u201d Schellen wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook Post. \u201cI\u2019m gutted and can\u2019t say much more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schellen went on to say, \u201cThis is heartbreaking. Bruce, Guy, Larry all of which I hold dear as family are shattered for the loss of our Marcie. We began UC together in 1992 and continued our friendship and music making throughout these years to this day. Marcie was always an Angel \u2014 now you have your wings.\u201d<\/p>\n
A voice like no other
\nBorn Mark Edward Free in South Bend, Indiana, in 1954, Marcie\u2019s career began when she was just 19. After moving from Michigan to Las Vegas, and eventually Los Angeles, she found her footing in the world of rock.<\/p>\n
Everything changed in 1983 when she met drummer Carmine Appice, who had recently parted ways with Ozzy Osbourne. Together, they formed King Kobra, signing with Capitol Records a year later. With albums like Ready to Strike (1985) and Thrill of a Lifetime (1986), Free\u2019s soaring vocals and unrelenting range made her one of the most distinctive voices in melodic rock.<\/p>\n
In 1987, she joined Signal, a short-lived but beloved project that produced the album Loud and Clear. Despite limited promotion, it remains a cult favorite among AOR fans.<\/p>\n
By 1990, Free had found her true creative home with Unruly Child, alongside guitarist Bruce Gowdy and keyboardist Guy Allison. The band\u2019s self-titled 1992 debut became a fan favorite, cementing Free\u2019s reputation as one of rock\u2019s great vocal storytellers.<\/p>\n
A brave transition
\nAfter the release of Unruly Child\u2019s first album, Free made a deeply personal and life-changing decision. In 1993, she publicly came out as transgender, adopting the name Marcie Michelle Free.<\/p>\n
The decision, while freeing, came at a cost. \u201cMy whole musical world quickly fell apart,\u201d Free later admitted. She said she was shunned by many in the industry after coming out, and that her band\u2019s momentum stalled as a result.<\/p>\n
Still, she remained proud and defiant. In interviews, she said that transitioning was a matter of survival \u2014 \u201ca decision between life and death\u201d \u2014 and that had she stayed living as Mark, she \u201cwould have died for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
After stepping away from music in the mid-1990s, Free moved back to Michigan to be closer to family, living what she described as \u201clife as a normal person does every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Free battled alcoholism during this time but found sobriety around 2008, crediting her faith and \u201cclose personal relationship with God\u201d for helping her rebuild her life.<\/p>\n
Reclaiming her stage
\nIn 2009, Free reunited with Gowdy and Allison to relaunch Unruly Child. The trio released several albums together over the next decade, including Worlds Collide (2010) and Down the Rabbit Hole (2014).<\/p>\n
Though she had faced hardship, Free\u2019s fans never left her side. Her journey \u2014 from the glam metal stages of the \u201980s to her courageous transition and eventual return to music \u2014 made her a quiet legend among those who knew her story.<\/p>\n
Tributes have poured in from fans and friends alike. \u201cOne of my all-time favorite singers to work with. Such an incredible loss,\u201d one fan wrote online. Another added, \u201cAbsolutely without question one of my biggest vocal influences\u2026 Just an incredible person. My heart breaks personally and for you. Truly a loss for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Music journalist Andrew McNeice of Melodic Rock also shared his grief, writing: \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of news you dread, especially in the middle of the night\u2026 But my friend Marcie Free has left us and I\u2019m heartbroken. I\u2019ll have more to say later. RIP the voice of AOR.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Reddit, fans remembered her electrifying stage presence:
\n\u201cOMG! She did an incredible job on Ready to Strike. I saw King Kobra in San Diego in the \u201980s. There were only about 100 people in the club but they gave us an arena show. Sorry to hear about her passing.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lasting legacy
\nFree often cited Aretha Franklin as one of her greatest inspirations, even thanking the soul legend in her album liner notes. Her own voice, raw yet meticulously controlled, carried echoes of classic rock, soul, and sheer emotion.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcie was a marvel to behold,\u201d Jay Schellen\u2019s words still echo \u2014 and for those who ever heard her sing, that truth rings eternal.<\/p>\n
Free leaves behind a legacy defined by both power and vulnerability. And a voice that never bowed to limits, and a spirit that defied every label. Thank you, Marcie Free, for reminding all that authenticity is the purest form of beauty.<\/p>\n
You were was, as her bandmate said best, \u201calways an Angel.\u201d RIP Marcie!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Marcie Free \u2014 the powerhouse vocalist behind King Kobra, Signal, and Unruly Child \u2014 has died at the age of 71. A marvel to behold Her death… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23638,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23636\/revisions\/23638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}