- In short: Frontman of alternative rock band Died Pretty, Ron S Peno, has died after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer four-and-a-half-years ago
- What's next? Peno is being remembered for his musical legacy and his positivity during his illness.
Ron S Peno, the self-taught singer of the rock band Died Pretty, whose dark take on guitar pop made them regulars on the Australian touring circuit in the 1980s and 90s, has died, aged 68.
Peno was diagnosed in February 2019 with oesophageal cancer and had been seeking treatment, forcing the band to cancel a series of dates supporting Bryan Ferry.
Died Pretty guitarist Brett Myers said Peno was one of a kind.
"He was born to be a singer. I never really worked with anyone else like him," Myers said.
“He was unpredictable, and contrary and just burned very bright and I don’t think we’ll see anyone else like him again.”
Myers said Peno refused to let his diagnosis change him or his time in the industry.
“I saw him two weeks ago and he was still talking about when we were going to tour and what we're going to do and arguing about set list and songs and he just never gave up.”
In a statement, fellow band members paid tribute to Peno's positivity and said his depth of character was inspirational.
"In the face of adversity he was towering," the statement said.
The band said Peno left a legacy of "extraordinary recordings".
"For many he is the soundtrack of their lives."
From 'chaotic' early days to inspiring new generations
Peno was born in Gosford, NSW, and played in bands in Brisbane in the early 1980s.
He formed Died Pretty, originally called Final Solution, in Brisbane in 1983 with Frank Brunetti on keys and Brett Myers on guitar. Colin Barwick on drums and Jonathan Lickliter on bass filled out the band, which was later based in Sydney and went through several line-up changes.
In the early days, the band were "a little chaotic," Peno once said, with a sound that borrowed from The Cure and The Doors and a black-clad aesthetic that recalled Jesus & Mary Chain and Suicide.
"I can remember rolling around the floor a lot — that's the only thing I can remember," he told triple j's Richard Kingsmill in 1995.
But by 1988, Peno was quoted as saying that if the band stuck around "another two or three years", they would become "a really great pop band".
"We had honed our sound and found some sort of direction," he said.
Doughboy Hollow, released in 1991 and featuring the singles D.C. and Sweetheart, is considered the band's showpiece, and it earned the group three ARIA nominations, a high-point in terms of their broader profile.
The album combined the reverb-heavy guitars and splashy drum sounds of bands like The Go-Betweens with Peno's deep, sometimes faltering voice.
Though the band released eight albums in total, they always bubbled away below the surface of mainstream Australian music, sometimes finding more receptive crowds in Europe than at home.
Their biggest-selling record, 1993's Trace, reached number 11 on the ARIA Charts.
While the major stages might have eluded Died Pretty, their work undoubtedly influenced later generations of Australian musicians.
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Without them, contemporary guitar bands like Dick Diver or The Ocean Party, who have come to represent a certain kind of Melbourne guitar music in the past decade, would probably sound very different.
And you can see Peno's penchant for sharp dressing in the stage presence of someone like Tim Rogers, of You Am I.
Died Pretty broke up initially in 2002, but performed together occasionally through the 2000s and as late as 2017 toured with fellow Australians Radio Birdman.
Peno was due to release a new album, his fourth, with his most recent band, Ron S Peno & The Superstitions, this year.
Peno was not a polished musician — "I think as a singer I am pretty bad," he told the ABC in 1985. He enjoyed the sense of urgency and unpredictability that came with performing rock'n'roll night after night.
"I'd hate be always like slick, and everything in its place," he said.
"I think it's good if there's a bit disorder."
After Died Pretty's success, Peno formed another band, Ron S Peno & The Superstitions.
The band posted a tribute on social media saying it was heartbroken.
"He always showed his indomitable spirit and wonderful, life affirming sense of humour," the band members wrote.
"We feel incredibly honoured to have been able to create, compose and perform music with Ron.
"We have lost a cultural icon; a brave, fearless, one of a kind artist and superlative performer and musician."
Singer of Melbourne punk band Painters and Dockers, Paulie Stewart, described Peno as an "inimitable punk poet".
"Only spoke to him last week and he sounded great," Stewart tweeted.
"Just reinforces …enjoy every day folks. Never forget you Ronnie."
Peno also formed and initially performed with 1980s band The Screaming Tribesmen along with Mick Medew who has posted a video on Facebook of the pair performing in Brisbane in the late 1970s.
"Time moves fast," he wrote. "We love you and miss you, Ronnie."
Peno's death comes just a month after the band's Thailand-based drummer Chris Welsh was diagnosed with lung cancer.
The band had to cancel shows planned for October due to Peno and Welsh's illnesses.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiU2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIzLTA4LTEyL2RpZWQtcHJldHR5LWZyb250bWFuLXJvbi1wZW5vLWRpZXMvMTAyNzIyNjQ00gEoaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEwMjcyMjY0NA?oc=5
2023-08-12 02:47:15Z
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