David Thomas, the frontman for Cleveland, OH-based art punk legends Pere Ubu, has died. He was 71.
The news was confirmed by the band in a statement posted to Facebook, which explained that Thomas died yesterday (April 23) in his home in the British town of Brighton and Hove, listening to MC5 on the radio with his wife and youngest stepdaughter at his side, "after a long illness."
"He will ultimately be returned to his home, the farm in Pennsylvania, where he insisted he was to be 'thrown in the barn,'" Pere Ubu's statement reads, going on to add that Thomas had been recording a new album, which they will continue mixing and finalizing "so that his last music is available to all."
It concluded, "We'll leave you with his own words, which sums up who he was better than we can — 'My name is David Fucking Thomas… and I'm the lead singer of the best fucking rock n roll band in the world.'"
Born in Miami, FL, the musician initially rose to prominence in the early '70s while writing for the Cleveland Scene under a number of different aliases. In 1973, he and colleague Charlie Weiner started the proto-punk outfit Rocket from the Tombs — the 1975 dissolution of which led to the formation of two different bands: Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys.
Thomas started Pere Ubu with Rocket from the Tombs bandmate Peter Laughner, with the lineup rounded out by guitarist Tom Herman, bassist Tim Wright, drummer Scott Krauss and synth player Allen Ravenstine. (The band would undergo numerous lineup changes in the years to follow, with Thomas being the only member to last the project's entire lifetime.)
Pere Ubu released their debut single "30 Seconds over Tokyo" — a repurposed Rocket from the Tombs track — via a local indie label in 1975, two years before the initial punk explosion even happened. Their debut album, The Modern Dance, came out in 1978 by way of Mercury Records offshoot Blank Records.
The band would go on to put out four more critically revered albums, with Thomas releasing debut experimental solo record a year prior to the band's 1982 breakup. He reformed the group in 1987, and they continued to release music and tour.