Bob Casale, one of the founding brothers of US post-punk band Devo, has died suddenly at the age of 61.
Casale’s brother Gerald announced the news in a statement on Devo’s official website, revealing Bob had died of heart failure on Monday, February 17th.
“As an original member of Devo, Bob Casale was there in the trenches with me from the beginning,” Gerald said. “He was my level-headed brother, a solid performer and talented audio engineer, always giving more than he got. He was excited about the possibility of Mark Mothersbaugh allowing Devo to play shows again. His sudden death from conditions that led to heart failure came as a total shock to us all.”
The Casale and Mothersbaugh brothers formed Devo in 1972, and went on to release nine studio albums. The 1980 effort ‘Freedom Of Choice‘ sparked what is now arguably their signature tune, ‘Whip It‘. The band were last active in 2010, when they released ‘Something For Everybody‘ – their first album in two decades.