Devo’s Bob Casale has died, the band announced on its Facebook page.
He died suddenly Monday from conditions that led to heart failure, the group said. He was 61.
Composed of two sets of brothers, Gerald and Bob Casale and Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Devo was known for its signature, futuristic outfits.
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Devo’s debut album, 1978’s Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, produced by Brian Eno, became an underground hit. The group broke through to the mainstream with its third record, Freedom of Choice, which featured the band’s iconic, platinum-selling hit single “Whip It.” The video for “Whip It” also became a hit on the new MTV, despite generating controversy over the song’s lyrics and video’s imagery.
In 1990, after releasing several albums, the group began a five-year hiatus, during which time Mark Mothersbaugh moved into composing music for commercials and soundtracks, writing theme songs for Nickelodeon’s Rugrats, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and MTV’s Liquid Television.
Gerald Casale, who directed most of the band’s 20 music videos, moved into directing videos for other groups, including the Foo Fighters, Rush, Soundgarden and Silverchair, before moving on to a commercial-directing career.
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The group reunited for performances on a few dates of the 1996 and 1997 Lollapalooza tours, followed by several tours.
In 2007, a song Gerald and Mark wrote called “Watch Us Work It” was used in a Super Bowl ad for Dell, leading the group to release the song on iTunes and start collaborating on new songs for the first time in 18 years. The group subsequently released its ninth studio album, Something for Everybody, in 2010, and embarked on a year-long concert tour.
The band’s full Facebook post is below.
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