Died On This Date (March 31, 1996) Jeffrey Lee Pierce / The Gun Club
Jeffrey Lee Pierce
June 27, 1958 – March 31, 1996
Perhaps best known as the front man for L.A. blues-infused rock band, the Gun Club, Jeffrey Lee Pierce also worked for Bomp Records, wrote for a handful of punk ‘zines, and ran the Blondie fan club. With the Gun Club, Pierce made an influential though not commercial impact on music with their swampy blues punk sound that drew strongly from such blues giants as Charley Patton and Howlin’ Wolf. Gun Club were a direct influence on the White Stripes, Screaming Trees and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. By the ’90s, Pierce was struggling with personal demons and drugs, leading to a marked decline in his creative output. He died of a brain hemorrhage on the final day of March, 1996. He was just 37.