Report: 60s Rock Pioneer Dead At 79

Co-Founder Of Seminal 60s and 70s Krautrock Band Dies At 79

It’s been a difficult week for the rock community; in the span of a handful of days we’ve lost Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker, Molly Hatchet founder Dave Hlubeck, and this morning we’re sad to report the passing of Can founder and bassist Holger Czukay, who died yesterday at the age of 79.

Czukay formed seminal German krautrock pioneers Can in 1968 alongside keyboardist Irmin Schmidt, drummer Jaki Liebezeit and guitarist Michael Karoli, relying heavily on improvisational songwriting tied together beautifully with elements jazz, rock, and a little psychedelia to round out the mix, shaping the music world as a major influence for later bands that would come to dominate New Wave, post-punk and avant-garde.

Holger Czukay’s death was confirmed by his former bandmates via a statement released to Facebook early this morning, revealing that their friend had been in good spirits despite the devastating loss of his wife, U-She, just weeks prior; “His passing has come as a shock. We will post more information about funeral arrangements shortly,” they wrote.

No cause of death has been revealed as of the time of this writing, but our thoughts and prayers are with all who loved Holger both as a friend and as a musician, and we thank him for the music and the lasting impact he left upon the music world. Rest well, friend.