RON ASHETON, guitarist for THE STOOGES has been found dead in his Ann Arbor, Michigan home today (Jan. 6th), aged 60. A cause of death is yet to be confirmed but early reports suggest a heart attack. Detective Sgt Jim Stephenson told a local paper that Asheton was discovered on a living room sofa and had been dead for several days. Police are not treating the death as suspicious.
Asheton founded The Stooges with his brother Scott Asheton (drums), Dave Alexander (bass) and Iggy Pop (vocals). He wrote the famous riffs of their garage rock classics, such as 'No Fun', 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' and 'Down On The Street' before moving to bass for the 1973 album 'Raw Power'. When 'Raw Power' was a commercial failure, Asheton left The Stooges to play in a number of bands, including The New Order (not to be confused with the UK band), Destroy All Monsters, New Race and, more recently, with Mike Watt, J. Mascis and Mark Arm for the soundtrack to the film 'Velvet Goldmine'. Asheton also acted in three films.
In 2000, alongside brother Scott and Mike Watt, he played shows under the moniker 'The New Stooges'. Iggy saw them perform and they decided to reform The Stooges properly. They played their first reunion show in 2003 and went on to release a new album in 2007, titled 'The Weirdness', with Asheton back on lead guitar. That year they were the highlight of Glastonbury Festival, causing a mass stage invasion.
Asheton is ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stone's '100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time'.
Vive Le Punk's condolences go out to Ron Asheton's friends and family.
Ron Asheton 1948 - 2009
