Sublime singer Jakob Nowell nearly didn’t take to the stage during Vans Warped Tour in Long Beach on Saturday following a heartbreaking loss.
The music artist, 30, emotionally revealed to the audience during the set that he had to put his beloved hairless cat Creature down before the band’s performance.
‘Creature the cat was my best f***ing friend,’ he expressed as the other members prepared to play the next song.
Jakob then admitted, ‘I almost didn’t want to play today but I thought to myself, “I don’t know what any of you guys are going through out there.”‘
After commenting on the size of the crowd outside, he added, ‘I know a lot of people look forward to a set like this man. So, good to be up here playing my father’s music with my best friends and family.’
Jakob is notably the son of late singer Bradley Nowell – who had been the frontman of Sublime until his tragic passing in 1996 due to a heroin overdose at the age of 28.
Sublime singer Jakob Nowell, 30, nearly didn’t take to the stage during Vans Warped Tour in Long Beach on Saturday (seen above) following a heartbreaking loss
The music artist emotionally revealed to the audience during the set that he had to put his beloved hairless cat Creature down before the band’s performance; Creature seen far left
Jakob’s hairless sphynx cat had often appeared on his main Instagram page, along with another hairless cat named Fluffy.
Some images show Creature cuddling up on his lap, or wearing adorable outfits for special occasions.
He has also mentioned his beloved pet during interviews, including his conversation with Rooster Magazine last year.
At one point, Jakob was asked if Sublime has plans to have another mascot. Before his father’s death, Bradley’s dalmatian named Lou Dog had been the band’s official mascot.
‘Oh no because I have my band cat, Creature the hairless sphynx cat. He’s pink. He’s chubby. He’s my mascot for Jakob’s Castle,’ the singer explained, referencing to his other band.
Sublime had been formed in 1988 with Bradley as the frontman along with Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh. However, the ska punk band disbanded after Bradley’s death.
In 2009, Eric and Bud came together wanting to reform the group – which they eventually did with Romeo Ramirez. They called the group Sublime With Romeo due to not having the rights to use the original name.
But in 2023, Jakob became the lead singer of the band alongside Eric and Bud, officially reforming Sublime.
‘Creature the cat was my best f***ing friend,’ he expressed as the other members prepared to play the next song
Some images show Creature cuddling up on his lap, or wearing adorable outfits for special occasions
The following year, Sublime With Romeo disbanded after Eric announced his exit.
Jakob has followed in his late father’s musical footsteps aside from currently being the lead singer of Sublime – which has previously dropped tracks such as What I Got and Wrong Way.
He formed his own group called LAW, which he left in 2021 and is also the frontman of his other band Jakob’s Castle.
Jakob is the son of Bradley and mom Troy Dendekker. The pair had begun dating in the 90s and married just one week before the singer’s death during a ceremony in Las Vegas.
During an interview with L.A. Magazine, Jakob got candid about his childhood, getting sober and his relationship with his mother.
‘I grew up with a crazy tumultuous home life,’ he explained. ‘When I got sober, I didn’t speak with [my parents] for years.
‘There was just a lot of white-trash chaos. Definitely no silver spoon status. It was insanity.’ He has since reconciled with his mother Troy as well as the man who raised him since he was six named Keith.
Jakob also reflected on deciding to reform Sublime and explained to the outlet that he wants ‘to bring attention to the very powerful California subculture that [he] created, and then use it as a tool to help people.’
‘I think that he was a man who was widely loved and respected by his friends. He was a human being like anybody else. He was varied. He had good days and bad days,’ Jakob said of his late father; Bradley seen on stage in 1996 in NYC
While talking to Grammy.com last year, the singer further opened up about his father – who passed away less than a year after he was born.
‘I think that he was a man who was widely loved and respected by his friends. He was a human being like anybody else. He was varied. He had good days and bad days.’
Jakob continued, ‘But I think we have to just take everybody’s character based on their actions and what they produced and created in the world.
‘And I know that his music helped a lot of people, and I just feel so grateful to get to be involved with and get to interface with it like that.’
The performer also added, ‘It’s been really nice getting to put together the gestalt to who he was ’cause I never met him personally…
‘But all his different friends and family and the fans, they each have a little piece of who he was, and he seemed to be a very multifaceted and interesting man.’
Jakob also discussed being compared to his later father and said, ‘When I’m up there on stage, I always tell fans I’m not my dad. They’re like, “He doesn’t play the guitar the same or sing the same or do this.”
‘It’s almost like I’m not him, dude; I’m a different guy. My larynx just happens to be biologically similar, so sometimes it sounds similar.’
‘But I will play them genuinely and I’ll have fun doing it, and that’s all I can promise,’ the singer expressed.
Ahead of the Sublime’s set during the Vans Warped Tour on Saturday, the band dropped their new single titled Ensenada on July 17.
