Sadly, this week, Howie Pyro passed away. He was 61 and died from covid complications following a liver transplant. Pyro formed The Blessed near the beginning of NYC punk rock. He then formed the long running D-Generation. He also played with Danzig, Johnny Thunders, Rancid, Joey Ramone, the Misfits, Debbie Harry, Alan Vega, and Kid Congo Powers. We send out condolences to Pyro's family, friends, and fans.
Gabe Serbian, drummer for The Locust, has passed away. He was 44 years old. The Locust released a statement on Instagram that reads,
"It’s with heavy hearts that we have to share the passing of Gabe Serbian on April 30th, 2022. This world will miss Gabe as a friend, family member, musician, and artist. He will continue to live on in so many ways and through everyone he has connected with during his time with us. May 1st is his birthday, and we hope that you can find a way to celebrate his life. During this difficult time we ask that you give Gabe’s family privacy."
Gabe Serbian also played with Cattle Decapitation, Le Butcherettes, Zu, Retox, Holy Molar, Head Wound City, and Dead Cross. We send our condolences to Gabe Serbian's family, friends, and fans.
Chris Bailey, co-founder and lead singer of The Saints, has passed away. He was 65. The band released a statement on Facebook that reads,
"It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you about the passing of Chris Bailey, singer and songwriter of The Saints, on April the 9th 2022. Chris lived a life of poetry and music and stranded on a Saturday night.
Family and friends"
The Saints released 13 albums with the last one being King of the Sun in 2012. The band were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 2001. Chris Bailey also released seven solo albums, the last of which was Bone Box in 2005. We send our condolences to Chris Bailey's family, friends, and fans.
Punk icon Jordan, aka Pamela Rooke, has passed away. She was 66 and died after a battle with bile duct cancer. Her family released a statement that reads,
"She died peacefully a stone's throw away from the sea in her home town of Seaford, East Sussex in the company of her loving family at 9pm last night (Sunday 3 April) … after a short period of illness, she succumbed to a relatively rare form of cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). Jordan (Pamela Rooke) has left her mark on this planet, whether it be as 'The Queen of Punk', or for her veterinary work and countless prize winning cats. She lived life to the full and was true to herself and others throughout the whole of her life. She was totally trusted and respected by all those who knew her Jordan was a wonderful woman and will be remembered for countless decades to come."
Jordan worked with Vivienne Westwood and helped shape the look of British punk in the 70s along with Soo Catwoman and Siouxsie Sioux. She also managed Adam and The Ants (as well as singing on their song "Lou") and Wide Boy Awake. She went on to become a veterinary nurse and bred Burmese cats and released her autobiography Defying Gravity: Jordan's Story in 2019. We send out our condolences to Jordan's family, friends, and fans.
Sadly, Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters passed away on Friday. He was 50. No cause of death was given. You can see the band's post below. We send our condolences to Hawkins' Family, friends, and fans.
Sadly, Nicky Tesco, original singer of The Members, has passed away. He was 66. A cause of death was not given. He left the band when they broke up in 1983, and played with them briefly in 2007 and 2oo9. Following his time in the Members, Tesco was an actor and film score composer. We send our condolences to Tesco's family, friends, and fans.
Mark Lanegan, vocalist for Screaming Trees and solo artist, has passed away. He was 57. No cause of death has been released. A statement released on his official Twitter account reads,
"Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland. A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley. No other information is available at this time. We ask Please respect the family privacy."
Mark Lanegan also worked with Queens of The Stone Age, grunge supergroup Mad Season, and The Gutter Twins among others over the course of his career. He went on to release twelve solo albums, the last of which was Straight Songs of Sorrow in 2020 and released his last book Devil in a Coma in 2021. We send our condolences to Mark Lanegan's family, friends, and fans.
Dallas Good, singer and guitarist of The Sadies, has passed away. He was 48. A statement released by the band reads,
"It’s with unfathomable sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Dallas on Thursday, February 17th. Forty eight years old, he died of natural causes while under doctor’s care for a coronary illness discovered earlier this week. A son, a brother, a husband, a friend, a bandmate, a leader, a force to be reckoned with, we have no words for the shock we are all feeling. We join the rest our music community and fans in grief. The stage is dark today with the all too soon passing of one of music’s brightest lights. We love you Dallas."
Dallas Good also performed with The Unintended, Phono-Comb, and Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet among others. The Sadies released a new single, "Message to Belial" last month and released Northern Passages in 2017. We send our condolences to Dallas Good's family, friends, and fans.
Sadly, King Louie Bankston (Louis Paul Bankston) has passed away on Sunday night. The cause of death was not revealed. Bankston played in many bands including The Royal Pendletons, The Persuaders, The Exploding Hearts, and the Missing Monuments. He was 49. We send out condolences to Bankstone's family, friends, and fans.
Sadly, Tohru "Monamour" Hiroshima of GISM has passed away. GISM vocalist Sakevi Yokoyama posted a simple statement: "RIP Hiroshima." No cause of death was given.
Hiroshima also played in the Randy Uchida Group, Psychi, and other Japanese punk bands. GISM somewhat recently reissued their first LP Detestation [Reissue] in 2020. we send our condolences to Hiroshima's family, friends, and fans.
Sadly, Rachel Nagy, co-founder of the Detroit Cobras has passed away. No cause of death was given. The band's current label, Third Man Records, issued a short statement: "“In both her voice and personality, Rachel Nagy was the perfect balance of tough badass and absolute sweetheart.” The band released five albums and a number of singles, with the most recent being 2020's "Feel Good." Punknews sends its condolences to Nagy's family, friends, and fans.
Sadly, Thomas Mensforth aka Mensi, singer for Angelic Upstarts has passed away at 65. He had been fighting Covid for the past few weeks. The band stated: "Today we lost a punk rock legend.Our thoughts are with his family, friends and all those he inspired."
We send our condolences to Mensi's family, friends, and fans.
Gared O'Donnell, lead vocalist, guitarist and founding member of Planes Mistaken For Stars, has passed away. He passed November 24 at the age of 44 after a battle with esophageal cancer. The band released a statement on their social media pages that reads in part,
"It is impossible to express the depth of sorrow in which we must announce that Gared O’Donnell, our brother, our leader, our captain, who has done more to cultivate love and light in this world than any of us can understand, has moved on from his physical form here with us and crossed the rainbow bridge into the eternal ether. In his final days/hours, he was surrounded by the love of his family, his friends, his bandmates, and many others from afar.
A titan, a pillar, a beacon, no one that knew him wasn’t touched or inspired. The gift he gave us was himself, fully unselfishly pouring his life, love, and soul out to the world, so honestly that it hurt.
His passion was infectious drawing us all to him and to each other. The family we have is vast because of Gared. Through the sheer force of his will, he helped to sculpt the reality we all inhabit. His impact on us all will never die.
At the end of every Planes show, Gared urged us all to take care of each other. It wasn’t just something to say, it was a plea for us all to open our hearts and see everyone for what they are, our brothers and sisters. A plea for us to appreciate every heart wrenching, beautiful, and terrifying moment life has to offer.
Gared O’Donnell, mythical beast, in one way or another, helped make us all who we are today.
Gared spent the last year of his life doing exactly what he loved, writing and recording music. We are currently working hard to bring these multiple final projects to completion. It is heartbreaking to do this without him, but we know that he would want for us to complete what we had started together. We will do our absolute best to honor his legacy and spread word of the legend that he embodied.
All of you have helped Gared to fulfill his dreams in life and provided him an extensive family bigger than he ever could have imagined. His love will live on in us for the rest of our days. So thank you all for your love and support over the years. His life was richer because of it.
Love to you all. May the light of our collective love carry Gared onto his next journey. Thunder in the night forever!"
Planes Mistaken for Stars formed in 1997 and released four full-length albums, the last of which was Prey in 2016. We send our condolences to Gared O'Donnell's family, friends, and fans.
Sadly, Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby aka Hank Von Hell passed away on November 19, 2021. He fronted Turbonegro circa 1993-2010. He was 49. His family released a statememnt: ""We are very sad to announce that Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby, also known to the world as Hank von Hell, sadly passed away on November 19th, 2021," stated a post on the musician's social media, adding, "We kindly ask for your respect to the family and close friends in this moment of tragedy."
turbonegro also released a statement: ""It is with immense sadness we received the tragic news that Hans-Erik «Hertis» Dyvik Husby has passed away. We are thankful for the times, the moments and the magic we shared with Hans-Erik in Turbonegro during the years 1993-2009. As a charismatic frontman who equally channeled humor and vulnerability, Hans-Erik was crucial for the band’s appeal. He was a warm and big hearted human, a spiritually and intellectually seeking person who loved having a conversation with anyone. We are proud of what we created together as rock brothers in Turbonegro - the music, the characters, our whole universe. Hank Von Helvete remains an iconic figure in the history of Norwegian rock and popular culture, and also made a mark as a profile in the international rock´n´roll community," they add. "Actor, romantic and entertainer - through his life Hank left no doubt that he was a man for the stage, loving the spotlight and the room’s attention. Our thoughts and hearts go to his family. Rest In Peace."
We send out condolences to Hank's family, friends, and fans.
Steve Cheese, real name Stephen Dubick, who played drums on the first two Screeching Weasel albums passed away last week. According to the funeral home handling his memorial, Dubick passed away peacefully after a lengthy illness on November 3, 2021, surrounded by his family You can read the obituary here. Screeching Weasel's original guitarist John Jughead released the statement: "We have lost our first Weasel. I am sad to announce that this morning Steve (Cheese) Dubick has passed away. Steve played drums on our first demo, our self titled record and of course the legendary album with the first appearance of the Weasel Logo, Boogada Boogada Boogada. His wedding on a campground in Wisconsin, where we played a horrible punk set at his reception will always stay with me." We send our condolences to Dubick's family, friends, and fans.
Sadly, "Big" Bob Clark of Agression passed away earlier this week. Clark was a founding member of the group and played bass. A cause of death was not given, but the passing was confirmed by Punk Rock Bowling. Punknews sends its condolences to Clark's family, friends, and fans.