Greg Brown, founding guitarist for the band Cake and the writer of their hit song “The Distance,” died Saturday, February 7, after a brief illness. Though his exact age could not be verified, was believed to be in his mid-50s.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Greg Brown’s passing after a brief illness,” the band wrote in a statement shared on social media. “Greg was an integral part of CAKE’s early sound and development,” the band’s statement continued. “His creative contributions were immense, and his presence—both musical and personal—will be deeply missed. Godspeed, Greg.”
Brown and Cake’s lead singer John McCrea founded the band together in 1991 with trumpeter Vince DiFiore, drummer Frank French and bassist Shon Meckfessel. Brown left the band in 1997 ahead of the release of their third album.
As McCrea told Billboard in 2021, Brown went to high school with two men who would also join the band: Todd Roper and Victor Damiani.
“When I was working with [McCrea], I really felt the forward momentum,” Brown told the outlet at the time. “I felt like, ‘Something very creative is happening here.’”
“Greg and John have — still, to this day — a very powerful chemistry together,” Roper said in the same interview. “I basked in the warmth that came off of that.”
Brown also said the group was “very conceptual” when it came to developing the band’s image. “We were just like, ‘Okay, we’re not going with our gut — we’re gonna make something, and we’re going to be intentional about it.’”
Brown joined the band Deathray after departing Cake and also joined River Cuomo’s side project Homie.
