R.E.M., King Crimson Drummer Bill Rieflin Dies at 59

Bill Rieflin, American drummer, mostly associated with acts Ministry, R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, and King Crimson, dies at 59.

King Crimson's founder and guitarist Robert Fripp confirms the news with a social media post earlier this evening, March 24. In Fripp's official Facebook page, he explains that Tracy Rieflin, Bill's wife, called to tell him the sad news.

"Tracy told Toyah and me that the day was grey, and as Bill flew away, the clouds opened, and the skies were blue for about fifteen minutes. Fly well, Brother Bill! My life immeasurably richer for knowing you," the King Crimson mainstay writes.

Bill, born William Frederick Rieflin, began playing professionally in his hometown Seattle. He started with The Telepaths, playing backup for live gigs done by The Tupperwares, who would later become known as The Screamers. He also played with punk rock act The Blackouts.

After The Blackouts' disbandment, Al Jourgensen of the band Ministry got Rieflin to join his band. The drummer played on the Ministry's 1988 album "The Land of Rape and Honey", pioneering work in the industrial music genre. Rieflin would go on to play with the band until the mid-nineties, working with them until he quit during sessions for the "Filth Pig," Ministry's sixth studio album.

In a 1999 interview with I.N.K. 19, he answered as his "impetus for leaving Ministry" was that "there was no good reason" for him "to continue on."

Rieflin further adds that he "never was in Ministry," explaining that in all the band's records, he was "always credited as an 'other' musician." He ended the question by reiterating he was never in Ministry, so he never left the band.

He would also recall later on, in a 2011 interview with Modern Drummer, that there was "no reason to be in Ministry." He describes playing with the band in 1986 as "all very computer, synthesizer, and noise based."

Rieflin would also recount that when he left the band, he "didn't have a plan per se" and that his first concern "was getting the hell out of there."

He would then go on to perform for other bands, from the German industrial rock KMFDM to New York's experimental group Swans. In 1999, Bill Rieflin would be introduced to Trent Reznor and play drums on Reznor's Nine Inch Nails. The resulting work will be the double album "The Fragile."

It was also in 1999 that Rieflin released "Birth of a Giant," his debut solo album. Later that year, he was introduced to another of his most associated acts - R.E.M.

Though excited to play with a new group, the Seattle-based drummer admits that he "didn't know their records." He would be credited for the drums in the band's last three albums - "Around the Sun" in 2004, "Accelerate" in 2008, and "Collapse into Now" in 2011. R.E.M. would break up in 2011.

In an interview with NPR in 2011, Rieflin would describe his R.E.M. bandmates as "a rare breed in my experience." He further explained that "they are all lovely guys - very smart, funny, and significantly, among the most generous and big-hearted people I have ever met."

In 2013, Fripp announced that Rieflin, a collaborator and friend, had joined his band King Crimson. Riefin would start appearing on tours and performing with the band from 2015 up until 2018.

While there has been no official statement regarding the cause of death, drummer Matt Chamberlain tweeted that Rieflin died due to cancer. Krist Novoselic, bassist and founding member of icon Nirvana, extended his condolences and played a tribute to the journeyman musician.

Tags

R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, King crimson