Alan Vega Of Pioneering Electronic Duo Suicide Dead At 78

Pioneering electronic rocker Alan Vega died in his sleep on 16 July — age 78.

The music legend's death was officially announced via Henry Rollins website, where a statement was posted with approval from Vega's family.

Describing Vega as a "creative force", the statement reported that the musician had "died peacefully".

Vega formed the groundbreaking NY duo Suicide in 1970 with musical partner Martin Rev. So unclassifiable was their sound that fans still debate whether or not they were punk, electro or just in some avant-genre all of their own. 

Their self-titled debut in 1977 was a ferocious study of raw rock'n'roll regurgitated as lo-fi electro punk. The album included the band's best known song Ghost Rider (covered by Rollins in 1987, also covered by REM and sampled by MIA for her track Born Free).

Vega also pursued a highly regarded solo career, releasing his eponymously-titled debut in 1980, it included his electrobilly classic Jukebox Babe.

Over the years Vega collaborated on albums with respected, and fellow trailblazing, artists such as Rick Ocasek, Al Jourgensen, Alex Chilton, Lydia Lunch and Genesis P-Orridge.

Suicide were set to headline the Desert Daze festival in California in October.

The statement on Rollins site praised Vega for his unique musical talent: 

"Alan was not only relentlessly creative, writing music and painting until the end, he was also startlingly unique.

"One of the greatest aspects of Alan Vega was his unflinching adherence to the demands of his art."

It concluded, "Alan is survived by his amazing family, wife Liz and son Dante. His incredible body of work, spanning five decades, will be with us forever."

Read the full statement here.