ALAN VEGA, 1938-2016

Alan Vega, half of Suicide, the aggressive and confrontational synthesizer duo that predated punk and would influence electronic acts for decades, died in his sleep Saturday at the age of 78. No cause was given though Vega suffered a stroke in 2012.

Singer Henry Rollins broke the news of Vega's death on his website, sharing a statement from Vega’s family. "Alan was not only relentlessly creative, writing music and painting until the end, he was also startlingly unique. Along with Martin Rev, in the early 1970's, they formed the two person avant band known as Suicide.

“Almost immediately, their incredible and unclassifiable music went against every possible grain. Their confrontational live performances, light-years before Punk Rock, are the stuff of legend. Their first, self-titled album is one of the single most challenging and noteworthy achievements in American music. Alan Vega was the quintessential artist on every imaginable level. His entire life was devoted to outputting what his vision commanded of him."

Vega, a Brooklyn native born Boruch Alan Bermowitz, and Rev formed Suicide in the 1970s after attending a Stooges concert together. They took the name from the comic book Ghost Rider and created music that was minimalist, punishing and even frightening. Vega sang, Rev worked synths and drum machines.

Their music would influence Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, U2, New Order and Depeche Mode. Springsteen often played their 1979 song "Dream Baby Dream" in concerts and included it on his recent album High Hopes.

Suicide, regulars at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City in the 1970s, released their first album in 1977‑multiple publications have anointed it as a classic—and a second one in 1980; they released another three albums between 1988 and 2002.

As a solo artist, Vega released more than a dozen albums, beginning in 1980 with a self-titled release that fused early ‘50s-style guitar rock with synthesizers, a path he would develop over the next two decades.

Vega recorded for ZE Records, the New York label that famously captured the “mutant disco”-“no wave” music of the time, his “Juke Box Babe” being one of the label’s stand-out tracks.

Vega, who was also a visual artist, collaborated with artists who followed in his footsteps, among them The Cars’ Ric Ocasek, Ministry's Al Jourgensen, Lydia Lunch, Genesis P-Orridge, Big Star's Alex Chilton and Ben Vaughn. Rollins released the Vega-Chilton-Vaughn album Cubist Blues on his 2.13.61 label in 1996.