Stooges guitarist Asheton found dead in Ann Arbor

49 mins ago

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ron Asheton, a guitarist and founding member of the influential rock band The Stooges, was found dead at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Tuesday, police said.

Asheton, 60, was found on his couch and appeared to have been dead for several days, Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Brad Hill said.

"We do not expect foul play," Hill said.

Police were called to Asheton's home shortly after midnight after an acquaintance reported that he had been unable to contact him for several days.

Asheton's brother, Scott, is the drummer for The Stooges. The pair were founding members of the band formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor along with front-man Iggy Pop.

Known for a violent and primitive style that featured stage-diving and outrageous antics by Pop, The Stooges were part of a late 1960s Detroit-area rock scene that also included the MC5.

The Stooges broke up in 1974 after three albums, limited commercial success and mounting drug problems for Pop.

But backed by Asheton's guitar riffs on songs such as "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "TV Eye," the band's music has been credited as a powerful influence on a wide range of punk and alternative bands including The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The White Stripes.

After The Stooges broke up, Asheton acted in a series of low-budget horror films in the 1980s and 1990s.

Asheton, ranked as the 29th greatest rock guitarist by Rolling Stone, rejoined The Stooges when the band reunited in 2003 and for the 2007 comeback album, "The Weirdness."

The band has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki, Editing by Sandra Maler)

My friend writes for Rolling Stone and he LOVES the Stooges. This is going to crush him .

R.I.P.

Damn. A terrible loss. Gonna crank "Raw Power" right now. R.I.P.

Love the Stooges. This is a big loss. RIP

Just heard the news.











Ron, thank you for everything...for introducing the world to a new style of music...for helping keep Detroit on the map...and for making us all proud. You were loved and you will be missed

Here's some local coverage:

Ann Arbor music community mourns death of Ron Asheton, guitarist for The Stooges
Posted by Roger Lelievre | The Ann Arbor News January 06, 2009 14:16PM
Friends and fans of influential rock guitarist Ron Asheton reacted with shock and sadness Tuesday as they learned that he had been found dead at his Ann Arbor home.

Asheton, 60, was a member of The Stooges, a garage-rock band formed here in 1967 and headlined by another former Ann Arborite, Iggy Pop. Asheton's buzz-saw guitar riffs on the band's first two albums helped build the foundation for punk rock.

Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead early today in his Ann Arbor home.
"I am in shock. He was my best friend," Pop said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. Ranked No. 29 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list, Asheton, who kept a low profile locally, was also known for his work with the area bands Destroy All Monsters, Dark Carnival and others.
"It's a real shocker. I was at Ron's house for his annual Christmas Eve party, everything seemed fine, he seemed healthy," said Scott Morgan, leader of the Stooges'-influenced Ann Arbor band Powertrane and a close friend of Asheton's since junior high school.

Morgan said Asheton will be remembered not only for his unique, three-note style of guitar playing, but for his down-to-earth attitude, a sentiment echoed by John Carver, who owned the Ann Arbor rock and roll club Second Chance in the 1970s and early '80s. Carver remembered Asheton as "a kind and gentle, good man ... a legendary figure from a legendary band."

Police were called to Asheton's house on Ann Arbor's west side early Tuesday by Asheton's personal assistant, who had not been able to reach him for several days. There was no sign of foul play or drug use, and Asheton likely had been dead for several days, police said.

Alan Goldsmith, an Ann Arbor-based music journalist who knew Asheton for nearly 30 years, said his status never went to his head.

"He was always approachable and always helpful to local bands. And he could go on for hours with stories about show business and people he'd run into over the years."

"When the whole Stooge reunion happened (in 2005-07), he started to get attention and people were focusing on his place in history," Goldsmith said. "The last three or four years he was starting to get the notoriety, attention and financial rewards for all the work he had been doing. It's too bad he didn't get to enjoy that more."

Leni Sinclair, a Detroit-based rock music photographer, said she was saddened by the news.

"He was a mesmerizing guitar player. He was not a showman, he didn't show off very much, but if you listened it just got into your blood. I saw him at the Fox (Theater) when they had a reunion after a long absence. I was immediately transported back to the Grande Ballroom (a Detroit venue of the 1960s and '70s). He was one of the greatest guitar players coming out of this area, I believe."


The Stooges have been nominated several times, including this year, for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but the band has been inducted. This year's inductees are expected to be announced in late January.

In a 2007 interview with The News, Asheton said he didn't mind that The Stooges had been overlooked by the rock hall. "What, this is our third or fourth time turned down? I think it's really funny," he observed, adding that if the band did eventually get it, "That's cool. ... It would be nice to be there with the names that are there."

The Stooges completed an European tour last month.

Greg Upshur, of Stockbridge, recalled meeting Asheton in the early 1980s when his band, The Seatbelts, opened for Destroy All Monsters. The two hit it off and Asheton wound up producing a 45-rpm single for the Detroit area band.

"He was the sound of The Stooges. I don't think Iggy Pop would be Iggy Pop if it wasn't for Asheton's licks," Upshur observed. "I'm sure a lot of rock and roll people are going to very, very sad today."

An additional statement, attributed to Iggy Pop, Stooges drummer (and Asheton's brother) Scott Asheton, saxophonist Steve Mackay, bassist Mike Watt and The Stooges' management and crew reads:

"For all that knew him behind the facade of Mr. Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not. ... As a musician Ron was 'The Guitar God,' idol to follow and inspire others."

Dianna Frank, an Asheton fan and marketing manager for concert booking agency Live Nation in Detroit, remembered Asheton as the calm in the midst of the storm that was a Stooges live show.

"Much like Neil Young or Keith Richards - great sloppy guitarists in their own right - (Asheton) proved that it's not necessary to be technically proficient to become one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time. I don't think there's another player out there who could match that psychotic, primal sound he had. His playing on The Stooges 'Fun House' record is just jaw dropping in its raw, brutalist power. He was unparalleled - nobody can match that sound.

"The sound coming from his guitar was just the most unbelievable thing I had ever heard; bursts of feedback-laced shrapnel. I was awe struck then, and I still am to this day every time I play their records," Frank said.

Asheton's body was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center, where an autopsy was to be conducted. Cause of death won't be determined until toxicology reports are complete, which could take about a month.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

© 2009 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.mlive.com/ente..._mour.html

Damn....

I just have to say this:

Detroit was one of the pilgrimages of this thing we called rock and roll: Motown, Hank Ballard, Willie John, Bob Seger, MC5, Rare Earth, the Stooges, etc.

No doubt the city is often called "Detroit Rock City" by classic and hard rock fans. With the Stooges, they kept the fire of Detroit music growing.

RIP to Ron Asheton, great guitarist.
[Edited 1/7/09 12:22pm]

What makes this more sad is that The Stooges are probably third in line of the 9 nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction,
The five that made it are expected to be announced any day.
Expected inductees are:
Metallica
Jeff Beck
The Stooges
Run DMC
War

others in consideration (in order of the source): Little Anthony and The Imperials, Chic, Bobby Womack and Wanda Jackson
this comes from a polling site that included fans, media and some of the voters to make up their who will get in this time list. Not offical from Rock and Roll HOF.