Chi Cheng - Telegraph Cheng contributed to the Sacramento group's first five albums, and featured on their best-known song, Change (In The House Of Flies). Recalling the recording of the song, Cheng said: "The producer said, 'Oh no, you're not going to play that goofy dub-reggae bass-line, are you?" And I said, 'Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to play! That song became really big for us, so I told them, 'OK, now let me write the way I write!"" Of Deftones" seven albums, three - Adrenaline, Around the Fur and White Pony - went platinum, and one (Deftones) went gold; Cheng performed on all of them. Although Deftones fell solidly into the nu-metal subgenre of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Cheng was never entirely comfortable with the term, explaining: " We've distanced ourselves from any other band, intentionally, so we don't have to worry about being compared to a scene or a category. I think it's a necessary evil for journalists, because they have to use the medium to describe the band. Born in California on July 15 1970, Chi Cheng went to California State University in Sacramento, where he became a vegetarian and practising Buddhist. He was a poet as well as a musician, self-publishing a collection of poems called The Bamboo Parachute in 2000. On November 8 2008, a car in which Cheng was travelling was involved in a serious accident in Santa Clara, California. The bassist, who was in the passenger seat and was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the car, suffering severe injuries. In hospital he lapsed into a coma and never regained full consciousness . The heavy metal community rallied, and over the next four and a half years concerts and other charitable events were organised to raise the necessary money for Cheng's continuing treatment. Prominent among his supporters were Deftones, who recruited a stand-in bass player, Sergio Vega, and played a star-studded benefit to raise funds. Another notable supporter was Korn bassist Reggie "Fieldy" Arvizu, who released a track called A Song For Chi. Hopes remained high for some time that Cheng would emerge from his coma: he fought off a near-fatal bout of septicaemia in April 2009, and underwent surgery four months later to replace a section of his skull which had been removed to relieve intracranial pressure. The following May it was reported that he had improved to the point where he was able to follow people with his eyes and make occasional vocal responses. In July 2012 he was released from intensive care and moved to his home. He is survived by his wife, Colleen, and by a son from a previous marriage. Chi Cheng, born July 15 1970, died April 13 2013