Dennis Thompson, MC5 drummer, dead at 75
MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson, the backbeat of the pioneering garage rock icons, has passed away at the age of 75.
This sad news comes soon after the rock legends were announced as inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, scheduled to take place later this year. Thompson was known for laying down the grooves on the group’s seminal rock live album, Kick Out the Jams.
Thompson was been recovering from complications due to a heart attack when he received the news that he would be entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month. In response to the news, Thompson’s reaction was that their inclusion was long overdue, telling original vocalist Rob Tyner’s widow Becky “It’s about fucking time”, as she told to the Detroit Free Press.
As of yet, his family are yet to issue a statement regarding Thompson’s death. The drummer was the final surviving member of the legendary band. No official cause of death has been revealed.
Outside of working in the world of hard rock, MC5 were known as one of the most political bands of their time, having aligned themselves with the White Panther movement early in their career. Their manager John Sinclair, who had also passed on earlier this year, was known for being involved in the radical political party and even the subject of a John Lennon song about the movement.
Their political slant led to them making appearances at various rallies, including the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which saw a large number of student protests. While they would continue to work on various studio projects throughout the late 1960s, the group would eventually fall apart due to drug problems after working on the album, High Time.
After the band completed two studio albums, they split up to work on various solo projects, only resurrecting the group’s name over the years for various one-off shows. For every star-studded show, Thompson returned behind the kit to back founding guitarist Wayne Kramer, who helped take over vocal duties after Tyner’s passing in 1991.
Since Kramer’s passing months ago, Thompson’s death makes him the final MC5 member to depart the world. Though Kramer had mentioned that the latest version of the MC5 was working on new material shortly before his death, there is still no word on when any of those tracks will surface.
This is a developing story.
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