Amy and Jody Abbott (Image: Huntington's Disease Society of America)

MEMPHIS, TN (CelebrityAccess) – Jody Abbott, the original drummer of the band Fuel, died on July 20, as announced by his family. He was 55.

Abbott’s cause of death of Huntington’s Disease, a progressive brain disorder caused by a single defective gene on chromosome 4. The defect is dominant, meaning that anyone who inherits it from a parent with Huntington’s will eventually develop the disease. The defect causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain.

In 1989, Abbott met lyricist and guitarist Carl Bell and the two formed a college campus band, Wanted, in Henderson, Tennessee. After many iterations, they landed on the name Fuel, self-releasing their second EP, Porcelain, in 1996. In the late ’90s, Abbott left the band, and Jonathan Mover replaced him.

From the mid-to-late ’90s, Abbott helped to record and release four EPs from Fuel, including Small the Joy, Fuel, Porcelain, and Hazleton. “Shimmer,” went on to the top the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

He is survived by his wife Amy and two children.

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