Famed rock-and-roll guitarist and longtime Ann Arbor, Michigan resident Ronald “Ron” Asheton was found dead in his home on the city’s west side.
Asheton, 60, was an original member of The Stooges, a garage-rock band headlined by Iggy Pop and formed in Ann Arbor in 1967. Asheton and The Stooges were amongst the first of the punk rock groups and his driving chords still influence the genre.
Asheton’s body was discovered on his living-room couch by police. They had been asked to check on him, after his personal assistant called the Ann Arbor police saying that Asheton had not been heard from. He appeared to have been dead for at least several days.
The cause of death is undetermined but investigators do not suspect foul play. Autopsy and toxicology results are pending.
Asheton was born in Washington, D.C. His brother, Scott, who lives in Florida, is the band’s drummer.
In 2007, The Stooges reunited and released “The Weirdness,” their first album in three decades.
Asked how it felt to be back with The Stooges, Asheton said in an interview that year that it was “great to be back on the road.”
The Stooges were part of a 1960s music scene in Ann Arbor that included such bands as the MC5, Bob Seger, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and The Rationals. The Stooges were considered one of the most influential bands to come out of the Detroit music scene.