Randy Miller, the talented Redding drummer who performed with the touring rock band the Myriad, died on Friday at age 39 after a lengthy fight with bone cancer.
Born in Long Beach in 1971, Miller moved to Redding in 1985 and married Kristyn Davis in 1997. Miller began playing drums with the Myriad in 2006. The band toured nationally and in December of 2007, won MTV2’s Dew Circuit Breakout competition.
Miller also founded and ran Metolius Construction with his business partner and friend Tommy Carlson.
"Randy breathed life into everyone around him all the way until the very end," Myriad frontman Jeremy Edwardson said on the website, Christian Music Spin. "People would come to the hospital to visit Randy and encourage him, but quickly found out the visit would be quite the opposite. He began to pour out words of encouragement and tell people to do everything that’s in their heart."
Edwardson, who owns and runs Soundhouse recording studio in Redding added that Miller, "Saw things in people that no one else recognized and his words of life ignited fires that could not be put out. He has changed my life and most of the people I know. Randy was a great man."
On the Myriad’s Facebook page, a post read, "Friends and Fans — Our beloved brother, drummer, and dear friend Randy passed away on Friday. He went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He lost his fight to cancer but won the peace that only comes from God. Please pray for his wife and kids."
The Millers have two children, Conner, 11, and Gillian, 9.
In June, Miller posted a note that said he’d just finished radiation treatments and was feeling good. "I sure do miss you guys and thank you for hanging in there with us."
In July , he performed with Marvin Allen, Alan Phillips and John Miller during a Music Max concert in Anderson.
But the fight against chondrosarcoma, the form of bone cancer he’d been battling since 2008, became too much this fall. Two weeks ago, family, band members and friends of Miller began gathering to say goodbye. According to Christian Music Spin, Miller told visitors: "I’ve been thinking about my life lately and how I’ve never really been a wealthy man, especially after the past two years of medical bills. We’re renting our house and we don’t have much. But you know, somehow I just feel so rich. I have an amazing family, and the best job ever. I just feel so rich. Somewhere that’s got to mean something. Somewhere we all have a cosmic currency."
In lieu of flowers, donations are being accepted to help the Miller family off-set costs. Those interested may donate to the family on the website of "The Stirring" church by clicking here .
