The Pop Group’s former frontman Mark Stewart has died. He was 62.
Stewart’s death was announced by his label Mute on Friday (21 April) in a tweet that reads: “We’ve lost such a dear friend, please respect the privacy of Mark’s Family and friends at this time.”
In a separate statement per The Guardian, they said: “In honour of this original, fearless, sensitive, artistic and funny man, think for yourself and question everything. The world was changed because of Mark Stewart, it will never be the same without him.”
A cause of death has yet to be announced.
Formed in 1972 by Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith, the British rock band have been considered pioneers of the late Seventies post-punk movement.
Much of their music, which covered a range of musical influences at the time, including punk, dub, funk, free jazz and often displayed a radical political message, trailblazed the way for the post-punk genre.
The five-piece group’s debut album Y was released in April 1979, a month after they dropped their debut single “She is Beyond Good and Evil”. Both were highly acclaimed, but saw low sales.
However, they went on to see moderate commercial success, enough so that they were signed with Rough Trade. During their time with the label, they released singles “We Are All Prostitutes” and “Where There’s a Will” in addition to their second album, For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?.
The group disbanded in 1980. Stewart later reunited Sager and Smith in 2010 to perform a series of live concerts and record two studio albums: Citizen Zombie (2015) and Honeymoon on Mars (2016).
In a separate post made by The Pop Group’s Twitter account, they shared words from Stewart’s bandmate Sager, who said: “Mark was the most amazing mind of my generation, RIP.”
“Thank you my brother. You were the biggest musical influence in my life,” record producer Adrian Sherwood added. “Love forever.”
More reporting to come
