(CelebrityAccess) — Grant Hart, drummer and singer of the alt-rock band Hüsker Dü has died after a battle with liver cancer. He was 56.
News of Grant's passing was confirmed by his former bandmate Bob Mould in a post to his social media. "The tragic news of Grant’s passing was not unexpected to me. My deepest condolences and thoughts to Grant’s family, friends, and fans around the world," Mould wrote.
The St. Paul, Minnesota-born Hart first teamed up with Mould, and bassist Greg Norton to found the band Hüsker Dü in 1979. Originally conceived of as a hardcore/punk band as evinced by their early albums such as Everything Falls Apart (1983) and Zen Arcade (1984), the band gradually shifted towards a more radio-friendly alt-rock sound through the 1980s and helped the band to land a record deal with Warner Bros.
However, interpersonal dispute and Hart's drug use reared their heads and led the band to dissolve while in tour in 1987.
Following Hüsker Dü's breakup, Hart launched a solo career before forming the group Nova Mob in 1989. Nova Mob, based on the book Nova Express by beat author William Burroughs, released two albums but broke up after touring.
Hart continued to record as a solo artist, releasing the live album "Ecce Homo" in 1995; "Good News for Modern Man" in 1999; and "Hot Wax" in 2009.
In 2013, Hart was the subject of documentary filmmaker Gorman Bechard's film "Every Everything, the music, life & times of Grant Hart"
"We made amazing music together. We (almost) always agreed on how to present our collective work to the world. When we fought about the details, it was because we both cared. The band was our life. It was an amazing decade," Mould wrote in his tribute about his former bandmate.
