Greg Brown, the original guitarist and co-founding member of ’90s alt-rock eccentrics Cake, has died. In a statement on the band’s social media, Cake shared that Brown died “after a brief illness.” He was 55.
“Greg was an integral part of CAKE’s early sound and development,” the band’s statement continues. “His creative contributions were immense, and his presence—both musical and personal—will be deeply missed. Godspeed, Greg.”
Brown co-founded Cake in 1991 with singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, drummer Frank French, and bassist Shon Meckfessel. During those early years, Brown co-wrote the band’s first two albums, 1994’s Motorcade of Generosity and 1996’s Fashion Nugget, and played guitar and organ. Brown’s played with a sharp, jagged approach that was steeped in blues rock intuition and country swagger.
Cake’s biggest hit, “The Distance,” also was solely written by Brown and features his most pronounced guitar work; the single rocketed up numerous Billboard charts, reaching No. 4 on Alternative Airplay and No. 35 for Radio Songs overall. His bandmates, especially McCrea, immediately recognized the track for the standout single it was destined to be. “He took to it right away, and I didn’t really understand what he saw in it so much,” Brown said of McCrea’s reaction in a 2021 Billboard interview. “I liked the way it sounded and everything, but I thought ‘Frank Sinatra’ was a much stronger choice for the single. But the record label chose it and it worked out.”
Brown and bassist Victor Damiani both quit Cake before recording began on the band’s 1998 album Prolonging the Magic. “I would just say there was a lot of turmoil at the time,” he told Billboard in 2021. With Damiani, Brown formed the band Deathray. He also worked on projects with two different members of Weezer: Rivers Cuomo’s short-lived Homie and Matt Sharp’s Puckett’s Versus the Country Boy EP. Brown reunited with Cake on 2011’s Showroom of Compassion, contributing guitar to the track “Bound Away.” In 2023, he put out the EP The End of Something New—his first and only release under his own name.
