OMAHA, NE (CelebrityAccess) — Jeffrey Runnings, founding member, bassist, and vocalist of the dream pop band For Against, died on March 3 after a battle with cancer. He was 61.
His passing was announced by For Against’s longtime label, Independent Project Records.
“Jeffrey Runnings was not only a good friend and an outstanding musician and songwriter, but someone whose life revolved around music,” said Independent Project Records founder and co-owner Bruce Licher. “Jeff was always enthusiastically sharing music that he thought his friends would enjoy, and for years he would send me handwritten letters, often accompanied by records he thought I should have or a mixtape he’d made that he thought I should hear. Even now, in the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, when he sent me his new album to hear for the first time, it was on a cassette tape that he mailed through the post. I couldn’t have asked for anything more special. His unique voice will be missed on so many levels.”
Born in Omaha in 1963, Runnings learned piano as a youth before moving on to guitar, which he learned to play with his right hand despite being naturally left-handed.
Runnings was a founding member of the group that would become For Against, starting out as the band’s keyboardist before transitioning to bass guitar and vocals.
He was also known for his love of felines and spent time working at a cat café in Omaha. He also enjoyed the outdoors.
Jeff is survived by his husband, Sean Applegate; his brother, Steve (companion, Linda Lou Fuss); nephews Rudy (Darcy) Runnings and Phil Runnings; niece Christina Kruger; uncle Gerald Abboud; and many friends and fans across the world. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Karen Runnings.
Runnings asked that, in lieu of flowers, well-wishers make donations to a GoFundMe established in his name.
