Kevin Sousa, local musician and ‘heartbeat of the South Bay,’ dies at 52
Kevin Sousa, the South Bay’s proverbial Renaissance man, who was a singer-songwriter, musician, surfer, teacher, therapist, mentor and community volunteer, has died. He was 52.
Sousa, whose resume included being a touring guitar technician for Glenn Frey of the Eagles and performing with his eponymous band at the BeachLife Festival, died late last week at his Hermosa Beach home, more than two years after being diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma.
His death was a soul-crushing blow to the South Bay musical community.
Sousa’s wife, Patti Sousa, wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday, May 27 — a day after her husband died — that he was initially diagnosed with cancer in September 2020. They remained steadfast, Patti Sousa said, and “charged forward” to fight the cancer and continue serving the community. Kevin Sousa even performed at this year’s BeachLife Festival.
In 2012, he received his master’s degree in counseling psychology from the Pacifica Graduate Institute, and then became a doctorial candidate there, studying depth psychotherapy, which deals with the unconscious mind. Just last year, he became a certified psychedelic-assisted therapy provider at the Integrative Psychiatry Institute.
Sousa was also a licensed marriage and family therapist, and had been in private practice at Hermosa Therapy as a depth psychotherapist since 2014.
