Iggy Pop Pays Tribute to The Stooges' Ron Asheton: "He Was My Best Friend"

The Stooges have released a statement following the death of guitarist and founding member Ron Asheton. "We are shocked and shaken by the news of Ron's death. He was a great friend, brother, musician, trooper. Irreplaceable. He will be missed," reads the statement from Iggy Pop, Scott Asheton, Mike Watt and the band's management. "For all that knew him behind the facade of Mr. Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not.

"As a musician Ron was 'The Guitar God', idol to follow and inspire others. That is how he will be remembered by people who had a great pleasure to work with him, learn from him and share good and bad times with him," the statement continues. Iggy Pop adds, "I am in shock. He was my best friend." Asheton was found dead in his Ann Arbor, Michigan home this morning. He was 60.

In addition to bandmates and friends, fans have taken to the Web to pay tribute to the Detroit rocker. "The Stooges Funhouse album was, and is, the blueprint for how Detroit rock is supposed to be played. R.I.P. Ron," Joey writes on Rock Daily, while Craig Hlavaty adds, "The Stooges are my Beatles."

"The rawness and ferocity of his playing will remain unmatched till the end of the guitar," writes LoveTheSun. "The musical dynamite that you and the Stooges created will live on forever," promises Swingline. Many fans have announced their intention to celebrate Asheton's legacy by digging back into the Stooges' catalog.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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