School of Rock alum Kevin Clark dies after being hit by car while cycling

Kevin Clark, who played drummer Freddy "Spazzy McGee" Jones in the 2003 film School of Rock, died Wednesday in Chicago after being struck by a car while riding a bicycle. He was 32.

The Cook County Coroner confirmed Clark's death to EW. Chicago police told EW the driver of the vehicle, a 20-year-old woman, was issued non-specified citations.

Clark was a member of the band Jess Bess and the Intentions, which had just played a gig Saturday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "They were unbelievably fantastic and they would've gone somewhere," his mother, Allison Clark, told the paper.

Clark took part in EW's School of Rock reunion in 2013, and shared memories of his time on the set of the classic flick.

"I got to jam with Jack Black," he said. "I knew Tenacious D, I listened to the band while skateboarding to school. When I got to the set I asked him if we could jam 'Kielbasa Sausage' and he turned to me bright red and said, 'Oh my God, you know that song?!"'

Clark didn't stick with acting, and opened up about that decision in the 2013 catch-up.

"Early on, a famous casting agent in New York told me, 'If your heart isn't in [acting], just get out now,'" he recalled. "It took me two years of auditioning to figure out, 'You know what? It was great being so lucky to do The School of Rock, but music is what I want to do.'"

In 2018, Clark reunited with Black at a Tenacious D show, hanging out backstage when the band came to rock Chicago.

Clark was previously involved in various music outfits in the Windy City. He also had been a teacher at a School of Rock music instruction business in Libertyville, Ill., his mother told the Sun-Times.

Black paid tribute to Clark on social media Wednesday, posting two photos of them and writing, "Devastating news. Kevin is gone. Way too soon. Beautiful soul. So many great memories. Heartbroken. Sending love to his family and the whole School of Rock community."

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