“Carnell Burch tells TMZ … Taime called her on Monday to deliver the heartbreaking news. It’s still unclear whether Kimberly jumped or accidentally fell from the ship.”
— Carnell Burch / Kimberly’s Mother
The Bahamas — TMZ has confirmed that Kimberly Burch was the person who has fallen off the ship during The 80’s Cruise on Sunday night March 2nd.
Reports and rumors have been swirling regarding this incident since late Sunday and it is now been confirmed by the family that the person was in-fact Faster Pussycat’s lead singer Taime Downe’s fiancée Kimberly Burch.
Metal Sludge first reported on this incident early on Monday March 3rd with our article ‘DEVELOPING … The 80’s Cruise has had a Passenger Jump Overboard, Initial Reports are Alleging it was a Band Member’s Fiancée’‘.
The couple shared a photo on Burch‘s Facebook that reads: “We made it to @the80scruise @fasterp_ssycat” which was time stamped 2:06 PM Miami Florida March 2nd 2025.
The TMZ article reads in-part: “Tragedy has struck an ’80s-themed Royal Caribbean cruise … the fiancée of Faster Pussycat’s lead singer has died after going overboard, though her body remains missing, TMZ has learned.
Kimberly Burch — fiancée of Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe — fell to her death shortly after a heated argument with him aboard the ship, according to Kimberly’s mother.
Carnell Burch tells TMZ … Taime called her on Monday to deliver the heartbreaking news. It’s still unclear whether Kimberly jumped or accidentally fell from the ship, but Carnell is confident Kimberly wouldn’t purposefully hurt herself.
Carnell says Kimberly had been drinking on the cruise — something that was out of character for her. She adds Kimberly wasn’t dealing with any depression or emotional issues, and was actually excited about the trip out of Miami.
Kimberly’s mother tells us she has not spoken to authorities yet, and Kimberly’s family is trying to get ahold of them, as they are looking to recover the body.
We’re told Taime and Kimberly were together for about 6 to 7 years.
Kim was 56.
RIP”
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Metal Sludge spoke directly with multiple sources from the ship, who stated Faster Pussycat played their first scheduled show on Sunday night March 2nd, around 8:30 PM (EST), and according to numerous reports, the incident involving Burch happened sometime after the band finished their set.
The Burch family have also posted a statement on Facebook that reads as follows: “It is with broken hearts that we share the sad news that Kimberly Burch has passed away. She was a beloved Daughter,Sister,Sister-in-law and Aunt. She will be greatly missed by all that knew and loved her. We ask for prayers during this time for our family as we try to wrap our minds around this heartbreaking tragedy. We love and miss you Kimberly Burch!!”
The news was also reported on Monday night as a rumor by the Artists on Record with Stefan Adika podcast after Burch‘s name started to show up in a Reddit thread and on the popular Facebook page Rock N’ Roll Experience.
Faster Pussycat are one of several hard rock groups appearing on the Royal Caribbean cruise sailing on The Explorer of the Seas that left Miami on Sunday afternoon and is scheduled to return to port on March 9th 2025.
We send strength to Taime, the Faster Pussycat band, and all related family and friends at this time.
We also wish to send our thoughts and prayers to Kimberly Burch and her family.
Stay tuned to Metal Sludge for Breaking News, Updates and Features along with both New Interviews and Classic 20 Questions.
