Hüsker Dü drummer and sometime vocalist Grant Hart passed away at just 56 years old. Seems to have been from cancer.
I have spent thousands of hours listening to this band. Zen Arcade is still one of the 10 best rock albums yet recorded, IMO. Mr. Hart’s work on the album comprises some of the best moments present in a landmark work of art (his songs are IMO the very best on the album), and his contributions influenced countless others in their own artistic endeavours, including my own.
So I’m sorry to hear about Mr. Hart’s passing. RIP brother; you done good.
Oof - 56 is way too young. Hüsker Dü were hit or miss for me, sometimes it seemed that the noise of it all( especially Bob Mould’s guitars )became almost obfuscatory. But when it all worked, it was tremendous. I still have copies of Zen Arcade and New Day Rising floating around on my shelves.
Damn, that fucking stings :(. Hüsker Dü were one of those classic two-great-songwriters bands, and I never could decide who was the better of them. I love Mould’s guitar, but a drumming songwriter and singer always gets extra credit in my book. He did massively important work with the band in the eighties, nineties music would’ve been a very different thing without them. RIP Grant Hart.
I was always more of a Bob fan at heart, but Grant wrote some great songs. It’s always a pleasure when something from Good News for Modern Man pops up on shuffle. I think I may go put that on.
Damn. Husker Du were the first real “alternative” band I listened too, before alternative was even a term, and it opened me up to so much. I still have my original vinyl copy of Zen Arcade, and I will spin it loudly tonight. And I still have a soft spot for their version of Love Is All Around. Rest in peace, Mr Hart.
Great eulogy on rollingstone.com. My favorite quote: “High school would have been so different if I’d known Hüsker Dü were gay and Depeche Mode weren’t.”
Thanks for starting this thread Snowboarder Bo. I was just logging on to do the same.
I came home from working a few hours ago and read the news. Haven’t moved much since because his passing is feeling like a kick to my gut.
Since the early 80’s and to this day, Husker Du is my absolute favorite band. Honestly, I moved to live in Minneapolis/St. Paul in the mid-80’s because that was where all the best music was coming from at the time.
My favorite as well as most regrettable Husker Du story: Back in the day & being out and about in the music clubs so many nights a week, a friend who’d worked at a radio station in Milwaukee had been given some comp tickets to see a pretty-much unheard of band at the time - Husker Du - at a small local club that evening. Friend phoned me and asked if I wanted to catch the show & feeling the need to catch a good nights sleep for a change - I responded, while snarkily laughing (and I’ve never lived this down): “Husker Who?” Well, I got my sleep that night and my friends went bowling with Grant, Bob, and Greg after their show. Had a good old time, they did. Within the following 6 months, Husker Du became my favorite band. Still have it all on vinyl.
Hope that didn’t bore anyone - just having a whole lot of memories come at me tonight as Husker Du was in some ways attached to pretty much everything I did/remember about my 20’s and 30’s.
I remember when they burst onto the hardcore scene with Land Speed Record. There were a ton of hardcore bands, that would do a blindingly fast 90 second song, and then spend 9 minutes getting ready to play their next blindingly fast 90 second song, rinse, lather, repeat. Husker Du was different in that they played blindingly fast 90 second songs with no more than 9 seconds break until the next song, and did that for a dozen or two songs. Wild.
He was a really nice guy too. All of Husker Du were. Saw them at least half a dozen times in SF/Sacramento up until 1985. One absolutely great show with DOA and Husker Du. IIRC, Grant played guitar and sang on the last song. He explained the set finish song really blew his knee out, so when they did an encore he switched. Can’t remember the songs now.
I don’t really have anything to say that hasn’t been said. He was a great songwriter, he died too early, and I’m gonna miss him. I prefer Zen Arcade and earlier to any of his later work. But that’s not to denigrate it, the stuff that came later was still great, just in a different way.
I’m really glad I got to see Husker Du live. (I’m old.) It’s sad that Grant and Bob never really reconciled, though Bob had a nice tribute to Grant on Facebook.
I watched a documentary on Hart called “Every Everything”. I thought it was really interesting. I think I accessed it via Amazon Prime, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a Youtube find by now.
I recommend this for all of us sad people in this thread.
I’ve been a huge fan of the band since college, so this was a tough bit of news. “Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely,” in particular, was one of the catchiest songs that the band ever cranked out.