Sadly, it has been confirmed that Ron Asheton of legendary rock’n’roll band The Stooges was found dead in his Ann Arbor, Michigan home this morning. While no official cause of death has been determined yet, reports claim that the eldest of the Asheton brothers is suspected to have died from a heart attack several days ago. Police discovered the guitarist’s body after having been contacted by his personal assistant, who had not been able to reach Asheton for several days.

Together with Iggy Pop, Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton formed The Stooges in 1967, releasing three albums between 1969 and 1973, all of which appeared among Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time. Asheton also ranked #29 of the magazine’s greatest guitarists of all time. Having influenced the likes of The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, AC/DC and many more, The Stooges were widely thought of as the forefathers of punk rock.

After the band’s break-up in 1974, Asheton continued playing music in bands such as The New Order (not to be confused with the post-Joy Division formation), Destroy All Monsters, and New Race. The Stooges reformed in 2003, including both Ashetons, and released their fourth album four years later.

Iggy & The Stooges have released the following statement about the loss of their friend and band member:

SuicideGirls interviewed Ron Asheton in 2007, read it here.