MC5 founder Wayner Kramer dead at 75
After being known as one of the founders of the proto-punk outfit The MC5, guitarist Wayne Kramer has passed away.
The news of his death was shared on his Instagram with an obituary picture and the accompanying message “Peace be with you”. As of yet, no cause of death has been reported.
Coming out of the garage rock movement, Kramer founded the band out of Detroit alongside guitarist Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith. Even though the band never enjoyed any hit singles, their biggest breakthrough came from the success of their live album, Kick Out the Jams, featuring the garage rock staple of the same name.
In addition to their significance as a live band, the band also had a strong emphasis on politics in their music. Becoming linked with the White Panther political movement, Kramer was known for spreading the word of equality and free expression whenever he played, often using unconventional styles amongst blues guitarists of the time, like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
Once the band imploded in the early 1970s, Kramer tried to kickstart the band group without original lead vocalist Rob Tyner. Although the band had been known to tour throughout this time, there would be no new album released under the MC5 moniker.
After making two studio albums with the band, Kramer would feature in a variety of other bands like Radiation before moving on to a solo career in the 1990s with albums like The Hard Stuff. Thanks to the influence of his old band, Kramer would later revive the band’s name with many different lineups over the years, including live shows with artists like Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden.
Kramer had also been resurrecting the name as of late with the project We Are All MC5, releasing the single ‘Heavy Lifting’ in 2022. The accompanying has not seen a release yet.
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