Wayne Kramer, MC5 Co-Founder and Guitarist, Passes Away at 75

MC5 co-founder and guitarist Wayne Kramer has passed away at the age of 75. The Detroit proto-punk icon’s death was shared by his and MC5’s official social media pages this afternoon. As of right now, no cause of death has been revealed.

Kramer, along with Rob Tyner, Fred “Sonic” Smith, Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson, founded MC5 in 1963 in Lincoln Park, Michigan. Later that decade, the quintet became once of the most crucial and pioneering leftist, anti-establishment band in the United States’ proto-punk movement. Best known for their debut album, Kick Out the Jams, MC5 were garage rock titans whose sound boasted a convergence of hard rock, blues and psychedelia.

MC5 originally disbanded in 1972 before briefly reuniting in 1974 and then again in 1992 and 2003. Tyner passed away from a heart attack in 1991 and, three years later, Smith followed by the same cause. Davis died of liver failure in 2012. Thompson is now the only remaining original member still living.

After MC5’s initial dissolution, Kramer played in the bands Was (Not Was) and Gang War with Johnny Thunders. He also became a session guitarist while continuing his day job of carpentry. In 1994, he signed a deal with Epitaph as a solo artist and released his debut album, The Hard Stuff, a year later. Over the last 20 years, Kramer scored films like Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, as well as the HBO hit comedy series Eastbound & Down.

This is a developing story. Listen to MC5 perform at Sturgis Armory in 1968 below.