Damo Suzuki has died aged 74.
The Japanese-born music star – who fronted Can, the experimental rock band, at the height of their creative powers – passed away on Friday.
A message posted on Can’s Instagram account reads: ‘It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of our wonderful friend Damo Suzuki, yesterday, Friday 9th February 2024.
‘His boundless creative energy has touched so many over the whole world, not just with Can, but also with his all continent-spanning Network Tour. Damo’s kind soul and cheeky smile will be forever missed.’
The musician was diagnosed with colon cancer back in 2014, after previously being diagnosed with the disease 30 years earlier.
Damo Suzuki has died aged 74. The Japanese-born music star – who fronted Can, the experimental rock band, at the height of their creative powers – passed away on Friday; seen in 2016
A message posted on Can’s Instagram account reads: ‘It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of our wonderful friend Damo Suzuki, yesterday, Friday 9th February 2024’; seen in 2010
Suzuki was actually given just a ten percent chance of survival in 2014.
But in 2022, Suzuki revealed that he was remaining optimistic amid his health struggles.
He told the Guardian newspaper at the time: ‘Everything is OK. I’m optimistic and if you have positive thoughts then everything will be good.’
Suzuki actually stopped making music for a decade after he left Can.
However, the singer subsequently insisted that he doesn’t look back on his career choices with any regrets.
Suzuki – who left Can in 1973, before eventually returning to the music scene – shared: ‘I’m not interested in hanging on to the past, because I cannot change it.
‘His boundless creative energy has touched so many over the whole world, not just with Can, but also with his all continent-spanning Network Tour’; seen in 2007
It was added, ‘Damo’s kind soul and cheeky smile will be forever missed’; seen in 2016
German experimental rock group Can, from left to right; Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Damo Suzuki, Irmidt Schmidt and Jaki Leibzeit, during the Tago Mago period
‘If I cannot change it, I don’t want to spend time there.
‘I like to spend time in the now because there I can create something new but in the past I cannot.’
Suzuki also explained that he was constantly looking to innovate.
He said: ‘I don’t like to play the same piece again and again.
‘Repetition is boring. Every performance should be a unique experience.’