Gregg Foreman, the Philadelphia-born musician who fronted garage rock outfit The Delta 72 and spent two decades as a cornerstone of Cat Power’s Dirty Delta Blues Band, died on April 21 in Los Angeles. He was 53. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed the death, with cause deferred.
Foreman formed The Delta 72 in Washington, D.C. in 1994, channeling post-punk rock sensibilities with 1960s British Invasion R&B into something frenetic and immediate. The band released three albums, ‘The R&B Of Membership’ (1996), ‘The Soul Of A New Machine’ (1997), and ‘OOO’ (2000), on Dischord, Kill Rock Stars, and Touch and Go Records, working with producers including Steve Albini and Brendan Canty before disbanding in 2001.
He joined Cat Power in 2006 and eventually became musical director, a role he held for nearly twenty years. His most recent shows with the band included a stop at New York City’s Webster Hall in March. Beyond Cat Power, Foreman played with Pink Mountaintops, The Meek, and The Gossip, and collaborated in the studio with Alan Vega of Suicide, Kat Von D, Death Valley Girls, Jesse Malin, Lucinda Williams, and Linda Perry, among many others.
Foreman also hosted The Pharmacy, a radio program devoted to the architects of underground music, interviewing figures including Genesis P-Orridge, Lydia Lunch, Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Alan Vega. He was, by any measure, one of the more quietly essential connective figures in American underground music.
Tributes arrived quickly. Cold Cave’s Wesley Eisold wrote that Foreman “lived a life that others only claim to have lived and he was one of one. His love for music was as genuine as the pain he harbored.” Actress Juliette Lewis thanked him “for sharing your gifts with us and your humor and kindness.” Sopranos star Michael Imperioli called him “a fantastic musician and a deeply soulful artist,” adding that “his humility, sincerity, and kindness made a big impression on me.” Former Primal Scream bassist Simone Marie Butler wrote simply, “I hope you are with your mum now in that great gig in the sky.”
In one of his final Instagram posts, written on New Year’s Day, Foreman reflected on his intentions for the year ahead. “My main daily course of action is to help myself heal, find self love and help others not feel alone,” he wrote. He had recently posted that his new band was mixing and recording their first EP.