Jeremiah Green, founding member and drummer of Modest Mouse, died Saturday after being recently diagnosed with cancer. The band confirmed the news via social media. He was 45.
“I don’t know how to go about it: today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah,” Modest Mouse wrote. “He settled down and just faded away.
“I’d like to say a few kind words right now, but it’s just not the right time. These will come later and by many people,” they continued. “Please appreciate all the love you give, receive, have given and will receive. Jeremiah was all about love. We love you.”
Earlier this week, frontman Isaac Brock confirmed that Green was “recently diagnosed with cancer.” The details of the diagnosis are unclear, but multiple reports, including a post from his mother, Carol Namatame, indicated that Green was battling stage 4 cancer.
Green was a founding member of Modest Mouse alongside frontman Isaac Brock and bassist Eric Judy. The group formed in Issaquah, Washington in the early 1990’s but later relocated to Portland, Oregon. As their name suggests, they had humble beginnings, rehearsing in a shed while crafting their sound, which was influenced by groups like Pavement, XTC and Pixies. It would be two years before Modest Mouse made their music debut and released their early tracks on K Records.
Her debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About, was released in 1996 via Up Records. Indie rock band The Moon & Antarctica’s third LP was on major label Epic, where they later broke into the mainstream with 2004’s Good News for People Who Love Bad News, which spawned the Hits “Float On” and “Ocean Breathes Salty” emerged. Green briefly stepped down at this point, making it the only Modest Mouse album on which he did not appear. At the end of 2004 he returned to the band.
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The group went through numerous lineup changes over the years, with Brock and Green remaining Modest Mouse constants. Last year they released their last and seventh studio album The Golden Casket. In November, they embarked on a 25th anniversary tour of The Lonesome Crowded West, from which Green reportedly took a break to undergo chemotherapy.
Outside of his time with Modest Mouse, Green also appeared with Satisfact and Red Star Theory in the ’90s, and also starred in Vells and Psychic Emperor.