Mitch Lucker

Word has come in that Mitch Lucker, singer for California metal act Suicide Silence, has died after being involved in a motorcycle crash last night. Lucker was 28 years old. Our deepest condolences go out to Mitch's family and friends.

Lucker helped form Suicide Silence a decade ago in his hometown of Riverside, CA. The band's third album, The Black Crown, was released in 2011. The band has yet to release a statement.

UPDATE: Here is the statement from the band:

There's no easy way to say this. Mitch passed away earlier this morning from injuries sustained during a motorcycle accident. This is completely devastating to all of us and we offer our deepest condolences to his family. He will be forever in our hearts.

R.I.P. Mitchell Adam Lucker - We Love You Brother

And the band also posted on their Facebook page:

ATTN: There will be a candlelight vigil held for Mitch tonight at 8pm in Huntington Beach at Main St. & 12th. This is open to anyone who would like to stop by and pay their respects.

Tony Sly (1970 - 2012)

Word has reached us that No Use For a Name frontman Tony Sly has sadly passed away. He was 41 years old. Sly joined the long-running punk band in 1989, releasing nine full-lengths with the band, as well as various EPs. In addition to his career with No Use For a Name, he released several solo acoustic records, including a pair of releases with friend and Lagwagon frontman Joey Cape. He, along with Cape, was part of the group Scorpios with Jon Snodgrass and Brian Wahlstrom. We did an interview with him in 2010 when his first solo album was being released that you can read here.

Fat Mike, head of Fat Wreck Chords who released most of Tony's work, released the following statement:

One of my dearest friends and favorite song writers has gone way too soon. Tony, you will be greatly missed.

Our deepest condolences go out to Tony's friends and family. We'll post more information as it becomes available.

Steven Pratt (1968-2012)

Another story of inter-band fighting, but this time with more tragic consequences. Steven Pratt was most recently of Fullerton band Poop but also multiple Indianapolis rock bands dating back to the 1980s. Poop also notably included Rikk Agnew of The Adolescents and Christian Death.

According to a report from the OC Register, Steven was beaten to death on Tuesday during an altercation at the band's Fullerton rehearsal studio. The group's bassist Jacob Leeroy Bach was taken into custody. Both men was found bleeding outside the studio just before 6:30 a.m. and were taken to UCI Medical Center. Both were admitted to the hospital, where Pratt died of his injuries.

Our condolences to his friends and family.

Joe Sell of Lucky Boys Confusion (1978-2012)

Lucky Boys Confusion guitarist, Joe Sell, passed away May 15th near the band's recording studio. Sell had been in the hospital months prior due to pancreatic problems. He was 33.

Lucky Boys Confusion released the following statement on their facebook:

We are saddened & devastated to hear the news of our bandmember, friend & brother Joe Sell's passing this morning. The five of us have toured, recorded & performed as one for the last fifteen years. More importantly, we've all grown up together. There simply are no words right now.

We send our truest condolences to the entire Sell family & ask on their behalf that everyone respects their privacy at this difficult time.

The band has no further statement at this time & we thank you for your kind thoughts.

Joe Sell was a self-taught guitarist who formed Lucky Boys Confusion with his friends in 1997 in Chicago, IL. The band rose to mainstream fame with hits such as "Hey Driver", "Bossman", and "Fred Astaire."

Our condolences go out to Joe's family and friends.

Maurice Sendak (1928-2012)

Sources all over are reporting the news that beloved and pioneering writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak has passed away at 83. The creator who is best known for Where the Wild Things Are was - according to the New York Times - widely considered the most important children's book artist of the 20th century,

The cause was complications from a recent stroke, said Michael di Capua, his longtime editor. The writer and artist, who mainly wrote for children, was both loved and criticized for taking away the sanitized veneer the children's story and exploring the darker side of the their minds and experiences. Sendak, who was born in Brooklyn and grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust also came out as gay in 2008, and struggled with that having never even told his parent's about his orientation, saying "all I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew."

But while he may have struggled with the societal conventions put on him, he understood children in a way that few others did. He said this about Max, the protagonist of Where the Wild Things Are:

In plain terms, a child is a complicated creature who can drive you crazy There's a cruelty to childhood, there's an anger. And I did not want to reduce Max to the trite image of the good little boy that you find in too many books.

Moreover, he talked about why he wrote for his audience:

Kids don't know about best sellers They go for what they enjoy. They aren't star chasers and they don't suck up. It's why I like them.

He will be deeply missed.

Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys (1964-2012)

Various news outlets are reporting that Adam Yauch (A.K.A. MCA) of the Beastie Boys has passed away after a long bout with cancer at the age of 47. Beyond his music with the Beastie Boys, Yauch is known for directing several music videos (under the name Nathanial Hörnblowér) and the band's 2006 live video Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That! . Additionally, Yauch produced the Bad Brains' Build a Nation .

We at Punknews offer our deepest condolences to all the friends and family of Adam Yauch.

UPDATE: Beastie Boys Official Statement UPDATE 2: Added some images and videos of note

It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam "MCA" Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer. He was 47 years old.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high school, forming a band for his 17th birthday party that would later become known the world over as Beastie Boys.

With fellow members Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Adrock" Horovitz, Beastie Boys would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four #1 albums–including the first hip hop album ever to top the Billboard 200, the band's 1986 debut full length, Licensed To Ill–win three Grammys, and the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. Last month Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Diamond and Horovitz reading an acceptance speech on behalf of Yauch, who was unable to attend.

In addition to his hand in creating such historic Beastie Boys albums as Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and more, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces. In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985′s Live Aid. The Tibetan Freedom Concert series would continue to stage some of the most significant benefit shows in the world for nearly a decade following in New York City, Washington DC, Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Taipei and other cities.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Milarepa organized New Yorkers Against Violence, a benefit headlined by Beastie Boys at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, with net proceeds disbursed to the New York Women's Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) September 11th Fund for New Americans–each chosen for their efforts on behalf of 9/11 victims least likely to receive help from other sources.

Under the alias of Nathanial Hörnblowér, Yauch directed iconic Beastie Boys videos including "So Whatcha Want," "Intergalactic," "Body Movin" and "Ch-Check It Out." Under his own name, Yauch directed last year's Fight For Your Right Revisited, an extended video for "Make Some Noise" from Beastie Boys' Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, starring Elijah Wood, Danny McBride and Seth Rogen as the 1986 Beastie Boys, making their way through a half hour of cameo-studded misadventures before squaring off against Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as Beastie Boys of the future.

Yauch's passion and talent for filmmaking led to his founding of Oscilloscope Laboratories, which in 2008 released his directorial film debut, the basketball documentary Gunnin' For That #1 Spot and has since become a major force in independent video distribution, amassing a catalogue of such acclaimed titles as Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy, Oren Moverman's The Messenger, Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop, Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze's Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak, and many more.

Yauch is survived by his wife Dechen and his daughter Tenzin Losel, as well as his parents Frances and Noel Yauch.

Lloyd Brevett of The Skatalites (1931-2012)

Lloyd Brevett, founding bass player for groundbreaking ska band The Skatalites, has passed away, after having been hospitalized for a series of strokes and seizures. He was 80 years old.

Lloyd co-founded the pioneering ska group in Jamaica in 1964, though the members of the group played together as early as 1955. The band recorded their debut LP, Ska Authentic, and Jamaica's famed Studio One, and toured as the creators of ska. The band split in 1965, but went on to reform in 1983. Brevett left the band in 2005. In October 2001, he was awarded one of Jamaica's highest honors, the Order of Distinction, and in 2010, he was awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal for his contributions to music.

Our condolences go out to Lloyd's family and friends.

Jim Marshall (1923-2012)

Dr. Jim Marshall, amplifier pioneer and the "father of loud" has passed away at 89. Marshall, who founded the amplification company has been credited with the as one of the forefathers of rock music alongside Leo Fender, Les Paul and humbucker inventor Seth Lover. His company made this statement:

It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved founder and leader for the past 50 years, Jim Marshall. While mourning the Guv'nor though, we also salute a legendary man who led a full and truly remarkable life. In addition to the creation of the amps chosen by countless guitar heroes and game-changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes.

You can leave condolences and comments on the memorial page launched for him here.

Michael Davis, MC5 bassist, dies aged 68

Michael Davis (1943-2012), bassist with legendary proto-punk band the MC5, has died of liver failure at the age of 68, the BBC reports. Davis had been undergoing treatment for liver disease for a month before he died at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California.

Davis was the Motor City Five's second bass player, replacing Pat Burrows, in time to play on the band's incendiary 1969 album, Kick Out The Jams. Davis was asked to leave the band shortly before they split in 1972, but went on to pursue a career in art, and after they reunited in 2004, was able to combine that work with his musical interests, working with OBEY, and providing artwork for an MC5 'best of', as well as their collaboration with Primal Scream.

Davis is survived by his wife Angela, their three sons, and a daughter from a prior marriage. At the time of writing, arrangements for his memorial have not been announced.

In Memoriam: James Van Doren, Vans shoes co-founder (1939-2011)

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that James Van Doren, who co-founded the Van Doren Rubber Co., better known simply as Vans, has died. All quotes are taken from said article.

James Van Doren, who ran the company from 1976 to 1984, died Oct. 12 at his home in Fullerton after a long illness, said his wife, Char. He was 72.

"He was a mechanic, a chemist, the brains behind the early shoe," said his nephew, Steve Van Doren, one of several family members who still work for the company. "In his garage, he made all the molds for the very first soles," including the trademark waffle design.

Van Doren's waffle design allowed for a lightweight skate shoe that combined both grip and feel. Allowing the rider increased control, without sacrificing the skater's ability to feel the subtleties of the board beneath their feet, the waffle sole was a genuinely important shift in shoe design. The principle has been taken up, adapted, and arguably improved upon, often by Vans themselves, over the subsequent decades, but it began with Van Doren, and the influence of this innovation on skateboarding and it's surrounding culture is difficult to overstate.

However, James was a human being who existed in a fuller context.

"He was a very driven man, a hard worker, very giving, very funny," his son James said. "He could control a room with his stories." In addition to Char, his wife of 15 years, Van Doren is survived by his sons from a previous marriage, James, Mark and Eric; brothers Paul and Robert; sister Bernice; and five grandchildren.