Bob Casale, Founding Member of New Wave Pioneers Devo, Dead at 61

The musician reportedly died of heart failure

Bob Casale, a founding member of 1970s and ’80s New Wave pioneers Devo, has died, the band confirmed Tuesday on its Facebook page.

Casale was from one of Devo’s two sets of brothers, and was known as “Bob 2,” since he played guitar alongside Bob Mothersbaugh, brother of Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh. The band had a lasting radio hit in 1980 with “Whip It,” and extended their careers by designing sound for countless entertainment properties.

See photos: Hollywood’s notable deaths of 2014

Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh started the New Wave band at Kent State University and kept it going in various iterations until recently, including a performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The band later formed Mutato, a Hollywood-based sound production company that worked with dozens of movies, TV shows and commercials.

“He not only was integral in Devo’s sound, he worked over 20 years at Mutato, collaborating with me on 60 or 70 films and television shows, not to mention countless commercials and many video games,” said Mark Mothersbaugh in a Tuesday statement. “Bob was instrumental in creating the sound of projects as varied as Rugrats and Wes Anderson‘s films. He was a great friend. I will miss him greatly.”

Alan Meyers, who was Devo’s drummer from 1976 to 1986, died last year.

Gerald Casale confirmed his brother’s death Tuesday on Facebook:

Very sad news to report today.

Bob Casale of Devo. Born: July 14th, 1952 . Deceased: February 17th, 2014

As an original member of Devo, Bob Casale was there in the trenches with me from the beginning. He was my level-headed brother, a solid performer and talented audio engineer, always giving more than he got. He was excited about the possibility of Mark Mothersbaugh allowing Devo to play shows again. His sudden death from conditions that lead to heart failure came as a total shock to us all.

Gerald Casale, Devo founder.

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