BRYAN GREGORY, founding member of THE CRAMPS, has died of pneumonia, aged 46.
The Detroit guitarist died last Wednesday (January 10) at the Anaheim Memorial Medical Centre, after several weeks of illness following a heart-attack, according to Associated Press, who quoted his wife Robyn Hunt.
Gregory formed the group in 1975 with his drummer sister Pam ‘Balam’ Gregory, frontman Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy. The group made their live debut at New York CBGBs in 1976, and appeared in film The Foreigner in 1978 as “punk thugs”.
He appeared on two Cramps records, 1979’s ‘Gravest Hits’, produced by Alex Chilton, and ‘Songs The Lord Taught Us’ in 1980, after which he left the band suddenly. He performed from 1980 to 1984 with the band Beast, and The Dials from 1992 to 1995. He had also recently formed a band called Shiver.
The Cramps went on to release several albums, and Lux Interior and Poison Ivy are still touring and recording.