Contortions frontman James Chance has died at the age of 71.
The no wave musician had been in ill health for several years, and in 2020 set up a GoFundMe page to help the musician with “personal health issues and the COVID situation.”
After his brother was rushed to the hospital, he posted on another GoFundMe page: “My brother is very weak. He's down to 95 pounds. He needs physical therapy to get his strength back and I don't know how to navigate the health care system to get that done.”
And this week, his brother, David Siegfried, confirmed that he passed away on Tuesday (June 18, 2024) at Terrence Cardinal Cook Healthcare Center in New York.
His brother “did not disclose the cause of death, but noted that the musician's health had been deteriorating for several years.”
A lengthy statement and tribute posted on James' official Facebook page noted that his last live performance was in Utrecht, Netherlands, in March 2019, before the global pandemic hit.
The funeral will be held privately, with a public memorial service planned to follow.
James was a legendary figure in the music and visual arts scene of New York's No Wave movement in the late '70s, a protest against commercial New Wave music.
No Wave artists experimented with jazz, funk and disco, as well as noise, dissonance and atonality.
The Contortionists appeared on Brian Eno's famous 1978 no wave compilation, No New York.
The saxophonist and singer was born James Siegfried and took on the stage name in 1975.
The group formed in 1977, and he was notorious for starting fights with audience members.
The Contortions were previously renamed James White and the Blacks for the 1980 LP Off-White.
They went through many line-up changes and reformed several times after disbanding in 1979.
James was in groups such as Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and also appeared on Blondie's Debbie Harry and the False Prophets records.
In a moving tribute, former Contortions guitarist Pat Place wrote: “So sad to hear of James' passing. Working with him in the early days of The Contortions was a rollercoaster ride of fun, creativity and insanity. His passing is a great loss to the downtown community and the music world.”
Actor Elijah Wood posted on X, “Saying goodbye to no wave legend James Chance. Play Control Yourself loud.”