Stooges Guitarist Dies

• 9th Jan 2009

Ron Asheton, guitarist and occasionally bassist with The Stooges, has been found dead at his home in Michigan. Police say they discovered Asheton's body at his home on Tuesday after an associate who had been unable to contact him for several days reported his concerns. There were no signs of foul play and its thought he died of natural causes.

Asheton was a founder member of The Stooges, alongside his brother Scott, Dave Alexander and, of course, Iggy Pop. Initially Asheton played lead guitar though, after Alexander was kicked out of the band, he took over bass duties, and that's what he played on the band's 1973 released third album 'Raw Power', a long player which, despite an initially lukewarm reception, became influential on the then emerging punk scene and is now considered a seminal release.

After The Stooges initially split in 1975 Asheton went on to play with various other bands, as well as dabbling in a bit of acting. In 2000 he, his brother and Minuteman Mike Watt (who Asheton had worked with on the soundtrack to movie 'Velvet Goldmine') began to perform together and were quickly dubbed The New Stooges. Iggy Pop was so impressed he decided to rejoin his former band mates and so the The Stooges reformed, leading to 2007 album 'The Weirdness', and various live dates, including a Glastonbury set.

In 2003 Asheton was ranked the 29th greatest rock guitarist by Rolling Stone magazine, The Stooges, meanwhile, have been nominated for inclusion in the US Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame this year (though it's not the first time they've been nominated, in the past without actually be inducted).