Founding guitarist of Cake, Greg Brown, has passed away
Greg Brown, the founding guitarist of the band Cake, has passed away.
The band took to social media to share news of his tragic passing, writing on Instagram, “It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Greg Brown’s passing after a brief illness.”
The heartfelt statement continued, “Greg was an integral part of CAKE’s early sound and development. His creative contributions were immense, and his presence—both musical and personal—will be deeply missed. Godspeed, Greg.”
Brown co-founded the band in Sacramento in 1991, alongside vocalist John McCrea. Brown played guitar and organ on the band’s first two albums, 1994’s Motorcade of Generosity and 1996’s Fashion Nugget.
Brown is perhaps best known for writing the song ‘The Distance’, which would go on to become their signature hit. It earned a multi-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.
The dry, acerbic vocals sing-speak in the clever track written entirely by Brown, “She’s hoping in time that her memories will fade, cause he’s racing and pacing and plotting the course, he’s fighting and biting and riding on his horse.”
Despite their success, Brown left the band in 1997, citing personal and health-related reasons. He went on to form the band Deathray; in 2011, he briefly reunited with Cake, contributing guitar on the single ‘Bound Away’ on their album Showroom of Compassion. He has released solo work as recently as 2023.
In a Billboard interview in 2021, Brown shared of Cake’s creative process, “It was mostly great. Sometimes difficult. But I’m not going to talk about that. Mostly just a wonderful, creative kind of explosion of ideas, like a fountain that just never stopped flowing.”
Additionally, Brown reflected on his departure from the band, sharing, “As 51-year-old me, I see a much larger context of what was going on in my life. Rather than get into all of it, I would just say there was a lot of turmoil at the time, and I felt like leaving Cake would be a decision that would be good for my health.”
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