San Francisco - Ron Asheton, whose guitar playing with Iggy Pop and the Stooges helped lay the foundations for punk rock, was found dead at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, police said Tuesday. Asheton was 60. Police said foul play was not suspected.
The Ann Arbor News reported that Asheton's personal assistant contacted police late Monday after being unable to contact him. Officers found his body on a living room couch where he appeared to have lain dead for at least several days.
Asheton formed The Stooges in Ann Arbor in 1967 with his brother Scott on drums, frontman Iggy Pop and bassist Dave Alexander, and his rough sounding guitar riffs were featured on the band's first two albums, which went on to become cult classics.
Asheton left the band in 1973 and went on to play in a series of bands, including the New Order and Destroy All Monsters. He played on Pop's solo album in 2003, the same year that Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at number 29 on their 100 greatest guitarists of all time list.
The Stooges were nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last September, three years after the band reunited to perform a series of concerts and release their first studio album.
