The Stooges Drummer, Scott Asheton, Dies At The Age Of 64 Due To An Unspecified Illness

Scott Asheton, a founding member and drummer of the rock band The Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, died Saturday due to an unspecified illness.

Asheton's death was confirmed by Stooges frontman Iggy Pop on Sunday afternoon, when he posted a statement on his Facebook page.

"My dear friend Scott Asheton passed away last night," Pop wrote. "Scott was a great artist. I have never heard anyone play the drums with more meaning than Scott Asheton. He was like my brother. He and [Scott's brother] Ron have left a huge legacy to the world. The Ashetons have always been and continue to be a second family to me.”

He added: "My thoughts are with his sister Kathy, his wife, Liz, and his daughter Leanna, who was the light of his life."

Asheton had suffered a stroke in 2011 that caused his temporary retirement. The cause of his death was not revealed.

James Williamson, Asheton’s bandmate, wrote about his last communication with the drummer on his Facebook page: “My only comfort is that he reached out to me in an email about a week or two ago saying that he was thinking of me and the good times we had together and that he would like to make some music with me.”

He went on, adding: “I responded, but he never got back to me again. I guess that was his way of saying goodbye for now….”

Scott's guitarist brother, Ron, died in 2009.

Pop, who formed the band with the Asheton brothers in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1967 is now the only surviving member of the original Stooges lineup. Some of their best-known songs include “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Search and Destroy.”