Keith Levene diesat the age of 65. He was a founding member of The Clash and later played guitar for Public Image Ltd, according to a close friend. Adam Hammond, a writer, said that Levene, who died on Friday, was one of the most important guitarists ever. Levene and Mick Jones started The Clash in the 1970s, but Levene left the band before it got big. After John Lydon left the Sex Pistols, he started the post-punk band Public Image Ltd (PiL).
Levene was an important part of getting Joe Strummer to leave his band, The 101ers, and join The Clash when he was with them. Levene is known for helping to create an angular post-punk sound with Public Image Ltd. This sound is still often mentioned.
Keith Levene, an innovative guitarist who was a founding member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd, died at the age of 65. Levene died at his home in Norfolk. He had liver cancer and was an important part of British rock music.
As newsof his death spread, musicians praised his impact on the post-punk music scene. John Frusciante, the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is one of his fans. He once called his style "spectacular" and said that “he explored the possibilities of what you can do with the guitar”. Levene was only 18 when he started the Clash with guitarist Mick Jones and bassist Paul Simonon. He and the band's manager, Bernard Rhodes, asked Joe Strummer, who was the lead singer for the 101ers at the time, to join.
The Clash was lucky that Strummer had just seen the Sex Pistols play at London's Nashville Rooms and decided that punk was the way to go. Levene was born Julian Levene in Muswell Hill, which is in north London.
He stayed in the Clash long enough to play in their early shows and help write songs, like "What's My Name," which was on their first album in 1977. But he stopped being a part of the Clash as they got more political and went on to have more success with PiL.
When the Sex Pistols broke up in January 1978, Levene, singer John Lydon (who used to go by the name Johnny Rotten), and bassist John Wardle formed a new band (known as Jah Wobble). In 2012, Wobble ” says, “John made a wise choice getting Keith.”
Their first album, Public Image: First Issue, went to No. 22 in 1978. Before that, the classic single Public Image went to No. 10 in the charts. Their second album, Metal Box, which came out in 1979, is known as a post-punk classic.
With different drummers, the band came up with new ways to play post-punk, dub, freeform jazz, and classical music. In 2012, Levene said,
“„People thought I had classical training, which was a load of crap. I knew how to play the E chord, so I tried E minor. We gave Lydon the music on a silver platter. He was very cool back then and did great work.- Keith Levene
He played the synthesizer on 1981's The Flowers Of Romance, which was his last released work with PiL, but he played with Wobble again in the years that followed. In 2021, he was called “one of the architects of the post-punk sound, his guitar style occupying a space between angular abrasion and pop opulence”.
Levene liked making guitars, and he and writer Adam Hammond had been working on a book about PiL. His partner Kate Ransford, who was with him in his last hours with his sister Jill Bennett and her husband, said he died "peacefully, settled, cozy, and loved." The family wants to be left alone.
This is the second high-profile rock musician to die in the last 24 hours. Friday, a representative said that Nik Turner, who helped start the British space-rock band Hawkwind, had died at the age of 82.
Keith Levene, an innovative guitarist who helped start The Clash and later played with Public Image Ltd., dies at 65 on Friday. His partner, Kate Ransford, and his friend, author Adam Hammond, posted on social media about the rock star's death on Saturday.
Levene died of liver cancer. He was with his wife Kate Ransford, his sister Jill Bennett, and her husband during his last hours. There was no information right away about plans for the memorial.