Husker Du's Grant Hart has passed away at 56

We are saddened to report Husker Du songwriter, vocalist, and drummer Grant Hart has passed away at the age of 56 after losing a battle with cancer. Hart’s most recent work included touring with Meat Puppets and Mike Watt, earlier this year, as well as releasing his fourth solo album, The Argument, back in 2013.

In a Facebook post, Husker Du bandmate Bob Mould reflected on their time together in the band:

It was the Fall of 1978. I was attending Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. One block from my dormitory was a tiny store called Cheapo Records. There was a PA system set up near the front door blaring punk rock. I went inside and ended up hanging out with the only person in the shop. His name was Grant Hart.
The next nine years of my life was spent side-by-side with Grant. We made amazing music together. We (almost) always agreed on how to present our collective work to the world. When we fought about the details, it was because we both cared. The band was our life. It was an amazing decade.
We stopped working together in January 1988. We went on to solo careers, fronting our own bands, finding different ways to tell our individual stories. We stayed in contact over the next 29 years — sometimes peaceful, sometimes difficult, sometimes through go-betweens. For better or worse, that’s how it was, and occasionally that’s what it is when two people care deeply about everything they built together.
The tragic news of Grant’s passing was not unexpected to me. My deepest condolences and thoughts to Grant’s family, friends, and fans around the world.
Grant Hart was a gifted visual artist, a wonderful story teller, and a frighteningly talented musician. Everyone touched by his spirit will always remember.
Godspeed, Grant. I miss you. Be with the angels.

Grant Hart was with Husker Du for the entirety of the band’s career, and wrote and sang some of their best and most influential songs. After Husker Du’s breakup, he continued to release music, both under his own name and with his band Nova Mob.

Rest in peace, Grant. You’ll be missed and your impact on music will live on.

Read tributes to Grant by Ryan Adams, Craig Finn, Tanya Donelly, Carl Newman, Justin Broadrick, Michael Ian Black, and more here.

We’ve also unearthed some never-seen photos of Husker Du playing NYC’s Peppermint Lounge in 1985

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTjfl0yhyRk