RIP Ron Asheton

Asheton with Niagara and Iggy at C-POP Gallery in Detroit - photo by the meritorious Doug Coombe

Ron Asheton, whose scorching and energetic guitar work behind singer Iggy Pop in the band The Stooges established a model of raw emotion for a succeeding generation of punk, grunge, and alternative rockers, has died. He was 60.

"That first Stooges album and the second one had a big influence on me," Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones said yesterday. "The Stooges' and the New York Dolls' albums were my blueprint for how to play guitar."

Iggy Pop called Mr. Asheton "my best friend" in a statement yesterday, and the band expressed shock at his death.

"For all that knew him behind the façade of Mr. Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not," the band said in a written statement. "As a musician Ron was The Guitar God, idol to follow."

"In many ways Ron was the heart of The Stooges, and The Stooges were the creators of punk rock," Paul Trynka, author of the 2007 biography "Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed," said yesterday. "If you don't understand Ron, you don't understand The Stooges, and if you don't understand The Stooges, you don't understand punk rock."

The Stooges - live in Cincinnati [1970]


Iggy Pop - The Passenger, live in Manchester [1977]
* My mistake here - Asheton didn't perform on Lust For Life [but it's such a great song, we'll leave the video.]

+ NME picks Ron Asheton's 5 greatest riffs