Wayne Kramer, whose explosive guitar playing with the influential Detroit band MC5 helped set the mold for punk rock in the late 1960s and early 1970s, died Friday. He was 75 years old.
His death was confirmed through a post on his official Instagram account stating that the cause of death was pancreatic cancer. It was not revealed where he died.
The MC5 (short for Motor City Five) was formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan in 1965.
Mr. Kramer and Fred (Sonic) Smith teamed up to provide the twin guitar attack that became the core of the band's sound and the centerpiece of their notoriously loud live performances.
Rolling Stone ranked Kramer and Smith together at No. 225 on its list of the 250 greatest guitarists of all time last year, saying the two “worked together like pistons in a powerful engine.” The band’s legendary high energy keeps one foot in the groove while jamming deep into the room.”
The band, comprised of vocalist Rob Tyner, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson, disbanded in the early 1970s after releasing only two studio albums.
Their debut, “Kick Out the Jams,” a live set recorded at Detroit's Grand Ballroom in 1968, is considered one of the most influential albums of its era, and has been featured by the Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones and Queens of the Stone Age. .
Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello said on Instagram Friday that Mr. Kramer and the MC5 “basically invented punk rock music.”
Mr. Kramer was arrested on drug charges in 1975 and sentenced to four years in prison.
Returning to performing and recording as a solo artist in 2009, he teamed up with his wife Margaret and the British singer to found Jail Guitar Doors USA, a non-profit organization that donates musical instruments to prisoners and provides songwriting workshops in prisons. Composer Billy Bragg.
The name comes from the Clash song “Jail Guitar Doors”. The song opens with lyrics about Mr. Kramer's substance abuse and struggles with the law. “Let me tell you about Wayne and his cocaine dealing.”
Mr. Kramer told High Times in 2015: “A guitar can be the key that opens a prison cell. It could be the key that opens a prison door, or it could be the key that opens the rest of your life. It’s an alternative way of dealing with the problem.”
Full obituary follows.