Hüsker Dü Co-Founder Grant Hart 1961 – 2017

Grant Hart, the co-founding drummer for influential hard core punk band Hüsker Dü, has died at the age of 56. His death from kidney cancer was confirmed by his band mate, guitarist Bob Mould.

Hart was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on March 18, 1961. Along with Mould and bassist Greg Norton, the trio formed Hüsker Dü in St. Paul in 1979. The band issued their debut album Everything Falls Apart in 1983 and followed it up with their acclaimed SST debut Zen Arcade in 1984. Hart and Mould shared primary writing and vocal responsibilities through the group’s final album, Warehouse: Songs and Stories, which was issued in 1987 by Warner Bros.

Following the breakup of Hüsker Dü, Hart issued several solo releases and formed the short-lived Nova Mob. Hart’s last solo album was 2013’s The Argument.

Mould posted a note regarding Hart on his Facebook page. Read it in full below:

It was the Fall of 1978. I was attending Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. One block from my dormitory was a tiny store called Cheapo Records. There was a PA system set up near the front door blaring punk rock. I went inside and ended up hanging out with the only person in the shop. His name was Grant Hart.

The next nine years of my life was spent side-by-side with Grant. We made amazing music together. We (almost) always agreed on how to present our collective work to the world. When we fought about the details, it was because we both cared. The band was our life. It was an amazing decade.

We stopped working together in January 1988. We went on to solo careers, fronting our own bands, finding different ways to tell our individual stories. We stayed in contact over the next 29 years — sometimes peaceful, sometimes difficult, sometimes through go-betweens. For better or worse, that’s how it was, and occasionally that’s what it is when two people care deeply about everything they built together.

The tragic news of Grant’s passing was not unexpected to me. My deepest condolences and thoughts to Grant’s family, friends, and fans around the world.

Grant Hart was a gifted visual artist, a wonderful story teller, and a frighteningly talented musician. Everyone touched by his spirit will always remember.

Godspeed, Grant. I miss you. Be with the angels.