Deftones' bassist Chi Cheng in coma after car accident

Chi Cheng, bass player for the U.S. rock band Deftones, has been seriously injured in a car crash, and is believed to be in a coma.

According to Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, Cheng is in a coma after being involved in the crash on Monday (03Nov08) in Santa Clara, California.

"It deeply saddens me to inform you all that our brother Chi Cheng was involved in a terrible car accident last night," Moreno wrote in a posting at the Deftones website.

"He is currently in a Northern California hospital in serious, but stable condition. I am on my way up north right now to be by his side, along with the rest of our bandmates and family. Chi is one of the strongest people I know, and I'm praying that his strength will get him through this. Please say a prayer for him as well," Moreno continued.

Although, little is known about the injury Cheng sustained in the accident, but his condition is described by several media reports as “very serious.” He reportedly is under doctor's supervision in an intensive care unit.

Billboard's website quoted the Sacramento Bee newspaper as saying that the 38-year-old bassist is in a coma following the smash in the Santa Clara area of San Jose.

Born Chi Ling Dai Cheng on July 15, 1970, Cheng is an American musician and the bassist in the Sacramento-based rock band, Deftones. He uses heavy-gauge (.065-.120) Fender strings on his instruments. Nowadays, Cheng uses two 300-watt, all-tube Ampeg SVT 2 Pro heads, two Ampeg 8x10 cabinets and a rack-mounted Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 for extra distortion. In addition, he is using Boss OD-3 OverDrive and Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble pedals.

Formed in Sacramento in 1988, The Deftones released their debut album, Adrenaline, on Madonna's Maverick Records label in 1995. The band's biggest UK chart success was their 2003 self-titled album that peaked at number seven.

The Deftones won a Grammy Award in 2000 for the song ‘Elite’ from their White Pony album. The group's most recent live show took place in Arizona in mid-September.

Cheng and teammates have been working on their sixth studio album, Eros, which is due in spring 2009 via Warner Bros.