Died On This Date (September 14, 2017) Grant Hart / Drummer For Husker Du
themusicsover Grant Hart
March 18, 1961 – September 14, 2017
Grant Hart, drummer and co-songwriter for the influential alternative rock band, Husker Du lost his battle with liver cancer. He was 56. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Hart was just 10 years old when his older brother was killed by a drunk driver. Hart took over his brother’s record collection and drum set, and within a few years, he was playing in small local bands. In 1979, while working at legendary St. Paul record store, Cheapo Records, Hart met customer, Bob Mould. They, along with drummer, Greg Norton, formed Husker Du shortly thereafter. The band started out as hardcore punk but eventually crossed over to a a bit more mainstream sound with Hart being credited by some as bringing melody to punk rock. It was a time when the music scene in the Twin Cities was thriving with the likes of Prince, the Replacements, and Soul Asylum, to name a few. In all, Husker Du released six studio albums, two live albums, and a couple of EPs before calling it quits in 1987. Hart went on to release a handful of solo albums and EPs before forming Nova Mob in 1989. After Nova Mob’s run, he returned to making solo records.
What You Should Own
Karl Mueller played bass for Minneapolis alternative rock band, Soul Asylum who came out of the same scene that gave us Husker Du and the Replacements. But while the latter were building critical and commercial success, Soul Asylum seemed to have a hard time getting out of their shadows. But that all changed in 1992 with the release of Grave Dancers Union. The first single, “Runaway Train” became a worldwide hit thanks to a striking video that put focus on the plight of runaway teens. The video struck a chord and suddenly, Soul Asylum became household names. The band even performed at Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Ball. The band was on a lengthy hiatus by the end of the ’90s, and were beginning to work up new material when Mueller was diagnosed with throat cancer in May of 2004. He would succumb to the cancer on June 17, 2005 at the age of 41.
