Gerard Smith, who played keyboards and bass for the celebrated prog-rock band TV on the Radio, died yesterday from lung cancer. He was 36. Smith joined the Brooklyn band around 2004 and played on 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain and 2008's Dear Science, two of the most challenging and rewarding recent records in all of indie rock. He also appeared on this month's Nine Types of Light, receiving his cancer diagnosis shortly after the quintet wrapped recording.
"We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer," TVOTR wrote on their website. "Gerard passed away the morning of April 20th, 2011. We will miss him terribly."
Spin music editor Charles Aaron remembered Smith as "a classy, thoughtful guy and he always seemed kind of bemused by the rock 'n' roll thing." Though he didn't write any of the band's songs, Smith "was very serious about TV on the Radio," Aaron said, "and was adamant about not letting people define them as 'black rock' or concede that 'blackness' was the essential quality of the band." The reason for that perception was that Smith was one of four black members of TVOTR, with Dave Sitek the group's sole white player.
Because of his illness, Smith did not go on tour with the rest of the group to promote Nine Types of Light, and because of the sudden news about his passing the band canceled five shows, including last night's scheduled gig in Chicago.
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Photo courtesy DGC.
Source: http://rock.about.com/b/2011/04/21/tv-on-the-radios-gerard-smith-dies-at-36.htm
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