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Ron Asheton, an elder statesman of the Detroit rock scene and the influential guitarist for The Stooges, was found dead in the early hours of this morning at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Reports are circulating that the Ann Arbor police department received a call around midnight, Jan. 5, with a request from an acquaintance to check on 60-year-old Asheton. Police found him dead at his home. Though an official autopsy report is yet to be released, foul play is not suspected.
The Stooges was formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor by Iggy Pop, Asheton and his brother, drummer Scott. Original bassist Dave Alexander died in 1975. Though inductees aren’t yet announced, The Stooges are among this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees.
Rather than a household name or a commercial success during its brief existence – the band fell apart in 1973 -- the Stooges’ raw, visceral music proved a huge influence on the bristling new punk rock genre in the mid-‘70s. Pop went on to a reasonably successful solo career, but there is no doubting that the Stooges albums “Fun House” and “Raw Power” contain Iggy's greatest work. If not some of the greatest rock music, too.
The Ashetons and Pop reunited in 2003 for several successful, intimate performances. However, attempts to capitalize on that with a new album, 2006’s “The Weirdness,” failed to recapture the band’s early renegade spirit. Still, for anyone who caught them live in their youth or even more recently, the Stooges was a rare and wonderful experience.
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