In life, Zika had been Westerberg’s idol. In death, he would become his guiding spirit, the rock-and-roll ghost who would haunt his psyche. “When Zika killed himself, that was a big part of what changed me,” said Westerberg. “I believe that I took it as a passing of the torch. “From then on, when in doubt, in my mind, musically, or whatever, I would think: What would John have done? My attitude changed too; I became a little more of a ‘fuck you’ type. It’s the classic thing: after he died, I took on a bit of his personality.”
