Wes Wehmiller

Who was Wes Wehmiller?

Wes Wehmiller was a bass guitarist who performed with Duran Duran and Missing Persons.

He was born in New York City, and named after John Wesley Powell. He grew up in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and later Wilmington, Delaware, where he and his younger brother attended Wilmington Friends School.

In high school, Wehmiller was an award-winning member of the Delaware All State Jazz Band, and received the Delaware Music Educators' "Award of Distinction." He attended a summer "Berklee in Santa Fe" workshop, and while there was awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied under Danny Morris. After graduation, he worked with many other musicians in Los Angeles before founding his own band I, Claudius.

When bassist John Taylor bowed out of Duran Duran in 1997, guitarist Warren Cuccurullo brought Wehmiller on board. Wehmiller toured and performed on television with the band until 2001, when Taylor reunited with the band. Afterwards he worked with Warren Cuccurullo, Missing Persons, and several other Los Angeles bands. In 2004, he played with Mike Keneally.

In addition to his music, Wehmiller was an avid photographer, cyclist, and hockey player. Although many close friends did not even know he was sick, he died in Los Angeles after a long battle with thyroid cancer, at the age of 33.