Kenny Ahrens (of Urban Waste), RIP

Kenny Ahrens (aka Kenny Waste), vocalist of the classic Urban Waste lineup that recorded their 1982 self-titled 7″, has passed away. The news broke on The New York Hardcore Chronicles Facebook, which reads: “R.I.P. NYHC soldier Kenny Ahrens (Urban Waste), Sang on the iconic Urban Waste 7″, part of the original NYHC crew. You will be missed.”

Fellow NYHC legend Roger Miret (of Agnostic Front) posted: “Woke up to the terrible news of a loss of a great friend Kenny Waste. Those of you that know me well know that Urban Waste was a tremendous influence in my life… Rest In Piece Kenny. You will be very missed in our NYHC Family. I’m going to miss you dearly…”

Joey Steel of the bands Cop/Out and Skull Caster also posted a eulogy as well:

I saw Kenny Waste / Kenny Ahrens perform a few times and was lucky enough to play with him once… he was a genuine man who wore his heart in his sleeve and always put everything into it!! Whatever it was. At least in my dealings with him. A lot of punks could have learned a lot more from him and all of that is on top of the fact that he was a fucking mad man when he performed…. if u never saw him sing for Urban Waste u fucking missed out… we all just play acting compared to the shit he did….

We were not close, but we talked here and there and tried to stay in touch for a while, and had not talked in a long time. But I knew him well enough to know that the world lost a gem today. My heart and condolences go out to his close friends and family.

Sorry Johnny Waste and ur crew. Please let us know if there is anything we can do.

Kenny was with Urban Waste up through their initial break up in 1984, and he was involved in some of the first few reunions, but they’ve been playing with new vocalist Josh Waste since about 2011.

Rest in peace, Kenny. You’ll be missed.