Ron Asheton (The Stooges) - R.I.P.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANN ARBOR, MICH. – Punk guitarist Ron Asheton of The Stooges has been found dead in his Ann Arbor home. He was 60.

City
police Sgt. Brad Hill says officers discovered Asheton early Tuesday
after they were called to his home around midnight by an associate who
had not heard from him in several days.

Hill says there were no signs of foul play, and the death appeared to be of natural causes.

Asheton
was an original member of The Stooges, the influential protopunk band
founded in Ann Arbor in 1967. Asheton's brother, Scott, was the band's
drummer.

Asheton's distorted guitar was a hallmark of the Iggy
Pop-led group's late-1960s and early-1970s sound. He was named the 29th
greatest guitarist of all time in 2003 by Rolling Stone.

That sucks I am huge Iggy Pop and the Stooges fan, great band and as a guitartist his aggressive style would influence musicians in English punk movement such as Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), Joe Strummer (The Clash) and countless others. Rock In Peace.

Sad news, I read about this yesterday. 60 seems to young to check out

What happened to Rattpoison? Seems he would have something to say about this topic.

Sad news. Ron Asheton was great, as was the stooges as a group who lead the way for countless bands in punk. Definately will be missed by me.

Iggy and the band's statement:


Iggy Pop has spoken out about the death of The Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton and the band have issued a statement.The statement reads:
“We are shocked and shaken by the news of Ron’s death. He was a great friend, brother, musician, trooper. Irreplaceable. He will be missed. 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,” the statement continues. “That is how he will be remembered by people who had a great pleasure to work with him, learn from him and share good and bad times with him.
“Iggy, Scott, Steve, Mike and Crew.”
“I am in shock. He was my best friend,” said legendary frontman Iggy Pop.

detuned wrote:

What happened to Rattpoison? Seems he would have something to say about this topic.

I've been on holidays for the past two weeks sunning it up....but this is a major downer.

This make me so sad, this guy is a giant in the world of music not just rock n' roll but is still underappreciated and unknown. You couldn't name a guitarist that is more important and influential since the 50's and 60's.

Such a great original sound that i've heard best described as "Like an Atomic Bomb". A sound imitated and expanded upon by so many that you couldn't imagine rock n' roll since without him. Fun House is really the default greatest R'N'R album ever and Asheton's guitar is the relentless driving force behind it.

R.I.P.

I'm not up on my Stooges history as well as some of you. Did he do anything after the Stooges broke up, other than the brief re-union a few years ago? I know they put out a new album album (any good?), but what else has he been up to all these years?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I'm not up on my Stooges history as well as some of you. Did he do anything after the Stooges broke up, other than the brief re-union a few years ago? I know they put out a new album album (any good?), but what else has he been up to all these years?

Ron made a great record with a band called New Race, which was made up of him, Dennis Thompson (MC5) and Rob Younger, Deniz Tek, Warwick Gilbert all of Radio Birdman. They played only an Australian Tour and the resulting live record The First and the Last (1982) is a total firecracker of a record if you can track it down.

I think he was in another band called Destroy All Monsters aswell but i haven't heard them.

As for the Wierdness (The New Stooges record) it's good.....but not a great seminal hungry rock n' roll record like from the original daze.....but then it was always going to suffer that fate.

Glad you're back rattpoison! When it comes to music you are seriously wise beyond your years.