Scott Asheton, drummer for Iggy Pop and the Stooges, dead at 64

DETROIT -- Scott Asheton, whose hard-hitting drumming was the bedrock of the Stooges' influential sound, died Sunday. He was 64.

The cause of death is not known. It was acknowledged by bandmate Iggy Pop on social media and confirmed by the group's publicist Nasty Little Man.

Asheton's brother, Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, died in 2009.

Stooges front man Pop, who formed the band with the brothers in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1967, remembered the drummer in a Facebook post Sunday.

"I have never heard anyone play the drums with more meaning than Scott Asheton," he wrote. "He was like my brother. He and Ron have left a huge legacy to the world. The Ashetons have always been and continue to be a second family to me."

Pop is now the only surviving member of the original Stooges lineup, whose raucous work helped define Detroit's rock identity while serving as a bridge between '60s rock and the subsequent punk explosion.

The Stooges split up in 1974, and Asheton went on to play with an array of Detroit-area bands, including Sonic's Rendezvous Band, Dark Carnival and Scott's Pirates, one of several group incarnations helmed by close friend Scott Morgan. Asheton found himself back on the global touring circuit when the Stooges re-formed in 2003.

Asheton had been in poor health in recent years, friends said Sunday.

His live performing had been limited since 2011 though his drum work is heard on the Stooges' most recent album, last year's "Ready to Die." He subsequently cut more tracks with Pop in Florida, said Morgan.

As a drummer, Asheton wasn't flashy or overly technical, though he expanded his repertoire after jazz lessons in the early 1980s. He'd begun his Stooges career playing on what amounted to a handmade kit, oil barrels serving as bass drums.

That heavy, primal style was ideal for the Stooges, and with older brother Ron on guitar, Asheton supplied the no-nonsense foundation that gave Pop his room to romp up top.

"If Iggy was the gasoline, Scott and Ron were the matches," said Pete Bankert, a recording engineer and bassist who played with Asheton.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; his daughter, Leanna, and his sister, Kathleen Asheton.