My heart goes out to you<3

Someone very near and dear to my heart - with whom I have had the pleasure of working, as well as photographing - is going through something most of us cannot fathom. I just saw him on Friday night, in good spirits, only hours before this tragedy occurred. My heart goes out to him and his family, and I wish even in some small way that I could help him.














Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Avril Lavigne Producer Butch Walker Was Renting Flea's Malibu House; He 'Lost Everything'

Wildfires claimed the home over the weekend.

By Kurt Orzeck

In a tragic turn of events, it has come to light that the rental home owned by Flea that burned in the Malibu, California, wildfires over the weekend was being occupied by Avril Lavigne producer Butch Walker - and he lost everything in the blaze.

Walker was touring New York at the time of the incident, and "had just consolidated my entire recording studio and house from Atlanta into the one house in Malibu," the songwriter/producer, who has also worked with Pink, Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., Tommy Lee and others, said in a press release. "I lost everything I've ever owned. Every master of every song I've ever recorded, every piece of recording equipment, guitars, drums and things I've collected over the years, cars, motorcycles, every family memorial, heirloom, picture, and document we ever had. ... Gone. I feel like I finally know the difference between 'going back' and 'going home.' "

Over the weekend, Flea said in a text message obtained by the Los Angeles Times that his $4.8 million home in Corral Canyon was "burnt to a crisp" by the fires on Saturday morning. According to TMZ.com, a second, $10 million Malibu home owned by Flea - the one in which he currently resides - did not burn. The one that did was a $4.8 million house that the bassist had been renting - most recently to Walker - and currently has up for sale, the site reports.

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose also had a close call when the fires burned his roof and singed some of his property. According to a report on KCAL-TV, Rose's assistant said the rocker "was with the hose everywhere" on his property, fighting to save his home.

The fires, which have largely been contained, were the worst in Malibu in years, according to the Times. In late October, another series of fires forced evacuations in the area but hit the San Diego area much harder.

SOURCE: http://www.mtv.ca/news/article.jhtml?id=5523