Keith Levene Cause Of Death Tragic: The Clash Co-Founder, PIL Guitarist Dead at 65

Keith Levene was one of the most prominent figures in the rock genre. He was a founding member of the iconic rock band The Clash and later the guitarist of Public Image Ltd.

Unsurprisingly, the lifestyle that came with the band life might have cost him his life in the long run. According to reports, the guitarist died of liver cancer on Nov. 11.

His good friend author Adam Hammon announced the news of Levene's passing on social media and paid tribute to the guitarist: "There is no doubt that Keith was one of the most innovative, audacious, and influential guitarists of all time.

Keith sought to create a new paradigm in music and with willing collaborators, John Lydon and Jah Wobble succeeded in doing just that. His guitar work over the nine minutes of 'Theme', the first track on the first PiL album, defined what alternative music should be.

As well as helping to make PiL the most important band of the age, Keith also founded The Clash with Mick Jones and had a major influence on their early sound.

So much of what we listen to today owes much to Keith's work, some of it acknowledged, most of it not.

Our thoughts and love go out to his partner Kate, sister Jill and all of Keith's family and friends. The world is a darker place without his genius. Mine will be darker without my mate."

Career

According to Deadline, Levene was a founding member of the British rock band, The Clash, alongside Mick Jones back in 1976, however, he left before the band started recording music.

He, however, contributed to one of their earlier song off their 1977 debut entitled "What's My Name."

He then moved on to another British band, Public Image Ltd. with John Lydon after the latter left the Sex Pistols.

He became known for being innovative and a punk pioneer at Public Image Ltd, and although he eventually left in 1983, he went on to work on his craft.

"What happened to me was once I got good enough to know the rules, I didn't want to be like any other guitarist," he once said in an interview with Furious in 2001. "I didn't go out of my way to be different. I just had an ear for what was wrong. So if I did something that was wrong, i.e. made a mistake or did something that wasn't in key, I was open-minded enough to listen to it again."

Levene eventually issued an autobiography in 2015 entitled "I Was A Teen Guitarist for The Clash," and it became a documentary, which was released in 2019, Variety reports.

Furthermore, Levene had just finished another book, co-written with Hammond, and was already working on the accompanying music. It was reportedly about Public Image Ltd.

Tags

The Clash, Public image ltd., Death