The co-founder of the well-known proto-punk group MC5, Wayne Kramer, passes away at age 75. Let’s read the obituary and cause of death for Wayne Kramer in this article.
Wayne Kramer dies at 75: Cause of death and obituary announcement
Wayne Kramer passed away on February 2, 2024, in a Los Angeles hospital. He was a co-founder of the MC5, a Detroit band that helped pioneer punk music with hits like “Kick Out the Jams” and hardcore anthems that impacted bands like Clash and Rage Against the Machine.
In a post on his official Instagram account, Mr. Kramer’s close friend and executive director of Jail Guitar Doors USA, Jason Heath, stated that pancreatic cancer was the cause of his death.
No band from the late 1960s and early 1970s, with Mr. Kramer and Fred “Sonic” Smith on guitars, Rob Tyner on vocals, Michael Davis on bass, and Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson on drums, was more in line with the revolutionary spirit of the era than the MC5.
Under the management of White Panther co-founder John Sinclair for a while, they gained notoriety for their unadulterated, uncompromising music, which they saw as the soundtrack to the impending rebellion.
On Instagram, Tom Morello, the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, stated, “His band the MC5 basically invented punk rock music.”
The band’s core lineup disbanded in the early 1970s and it enjoyed little commercial success, but its sound and ability to combine music with political action made it a lasting legacy. In his 2018 memoir, “The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities,” Mr. Kramer discussed his lengthy history of legal disputes and drug usage.
This spring, the new MC5 album “Heavy Lifting”—which features Mr. Kramer and Thompson from the original group—will feature appearances by Morello and other musicians. Additional contributions came from Slash, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, and Alice in Chains’ William DuVall.
In December, Mr. Kramer told Mojo magazine that he was “pushing music forward, carrying a message of self-efficacy and empowerment— and just to have fun.” “The MC5 has everything.” The answer to the problems we face is creativity.
