EDM fans are grieving after it was revealed that deejay i_o — real name Garrett Falls Lockhart — had passed away on Nov. 23 at the young age of 30. His Twitter account shared the news, with an announcement that the “world lost a beautiful soul” with his tragic death. “This extremely talented spirit taught us that even if noting matters, you can still lead with love.”
“Garrett’s truth and soul lives on through the music he shared. Rest in peace Garrett, we love you,” the statement added. It did not include a cause of death for Garrett or where his untimely passing happened. Garrett was a major emerging talent in the techno world, with EDM Tunes naming him as one of their 2018 breakout artists. The following year he made his festival debut on the UMF Radio stage at Miami’s epic Ultra Music Festival. We’ve got five things to know about the rising techno star.
— i_o (@i_oofficial) November 24, 2020
1. Garrett was promoting his music up until his death. On Nov. 20, he was promoting his latest single “Castles in the Sky” via his social media, and noted and extended remix was coming. Garrett released the music video for the song on Nov. 21, two days before his passing.
2. Garrett had returned to performing live after the COVID-19 pandemic. He did a live show at Club Space Miami on Oct. 30. The day prior he promised it would be an epic night, tweeting, “first time back at space in 9 months? better believe im gonna hit another level tmrw. say your goodbyes.” He also recently performed at Orlando, FL club Celine on Fri. Nov. 13, 10 days before his death.
3. Garrett was embarking on a national tour in 2020 before the pandemic hit. He managed to play sold-out shows in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Hollywood, Boston, and Las Vegas before the coronavirus outbreak shut down live concerts due to social distancing and crowd regulations.
do u ever question ur life?
— i_o (@i_oofficial) November 18, 2020
3. Garrett asked poignant questions about “life” recently. In a Nov. 18 Instagram and Twitter post showing up atop his DJ platform, Garrett wrote, “do u ever question ur life?” In a Sept. 9 Twitter post he asked, “am i ok? is anyone ok? i haven’t been ok for a while.”
5. Garrett had missed performing for live audiences. In an Aug. 28 Instagram post, he showed video of himself getting atop his equipment before an adoring crowd at what appeared to be his 2019 set at Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival festival. He captioned, it, “mentally i’m here.” Garrett had performed at EDC, Ultra and other top festivals like Beyond Wonderland in his breakout 2019 year. He shared a Sept. 13 Twitter video of him thrilling an audience at another festival and wrote, “bury me at the techno rave.” Garrett will be deeply missed by techno fans and all of the promise that his musical genius held.
