GWAR Co-Founder Chuck Varga in Hospice Care With Terminal Cancer

Chuck Varga, the GWAR co-founder who performed as the Sexecutioner, is now in hospice care in Florida, with doctors estimating he has six months or less to live. Metastatic prostate cancer, first diagnosed a decade ago, has spread throughout his body, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down and bedridden.

Varga’s name may not carry the same recognition as the late Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus), but his role in shaping GWAR’s grotesque, multimedia mythology was foundational. He was among the circle of artists and musicians who, in the 1980s, turned a joke into a universe—monstrous costumes, staged executions, and the band’s breakthrough 1990 album Scumdogs of the Universe all bear his imprint. Without Varga, GWAR as the world knows it would not exist.

Speaking to Decibel Magazine from his bed, Varga described the cancer’s slow march: a prostatectomy that missed cells, years of hormone blockers and radiation, then a new, aggressive strain that took his mobility last summer. He remains sharp, crediting the ancient philosophy of Stoicism with helping him accept what he cannot change. “I’m not really doing much in the way of treatments because they’re ineffective,” he said.

GWAR has organized a fundraiser, selling T-shirts and offering unique items to assist Varga and his wife, Bambi, who is his full-time caregiver. The situation is stark, but Varga’s perspective—finding clarity in the wreckage—echoes the dark humor that always lurked beneath the latex and fake blood.