Ian North, center, with Milk N' Cookies
Ian North, center, with Milk N' Cookies

Ian North of Milk N' Cookies has died

Ian North, who founded ’70s glam / power-pop band Milk N’ Cookies, has died after suffering a heart attack last week. He was 68. The was shared via longtime friend, musician and photographer Paul Zone, who wrote, “It’s with great sadness I share the news that Ian North (Milk ‘n Cookies) died this morning. I have been on the phone with Ian’s wife all week, he had a massive heart attack last Saturday.”

North formed Milk N’ Cookies in 1973, and the band included Justin Strauss (who’d go on to be a major electronic artist and DJ), Michael Ruiz (also of Paul Collins’ Beat) and Sal Maida (who also played in Sparks). The band’s self-titled 1975 debut album is a classic that you can listen to below. When Milk N’ Cookies broke up, Ian North went on to form punk band Ian North’s Radio and also was an early synthpop adopter with his solo albums, like 1979’s Neo.

“He was the first person who believed in me,” Justin Strauss wrote on Instagram in a lovely tribute. “We bonded over the music we loved and would spend endless hours dreaming and scheming up our plans to be pop stars. Like me Ian lived for it 24/7. It was all he wanted, to be respected as a great songwriter in the coolest band. He wrote all the songs in Milk n’ Cookies and they are timeless perfect pop masterpieces.” Sal Maida simply wrote, “I don’t even know what to say.”

Rest in peace, Ian.

Read Justin Strauss’ full tribute and listen to some of Ian’s music, below.