East Bay Ray, the guitarist and founding member of Dead Kennedys, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The band’s management announced the news on social media on Tuesday.
“Ray says he plans to continue performing and touring with Dead Kennedys
for as long as his health allows, and expressed his appreciation to everyone for their continued support,” the band wrote on Instagram, along with sharing a black and white photo of the artist.
The San Francisco punk icon co-founded the band in 1978 and continues to be a member of the seminal group, who broke up in 1986 and reunited in 2001, along with original bassist Klaus Flouride. Singer Ron “Skip” Greer has served as lead vocalist since 2008. Drummer Steve Wilson joined the band following the death of longtime drummer D.H. Peligro in 2022.
The band has several tour dates scheduled for the West Coast, beginning on Oct. 6 in Seattle at Showbox at the Market and ending on Oct. 11 in Riverside, California at Riverside Municipal Auditorium. Per their Instagram post, fans can expect Ray to perform if his health prevails.
The news comes in the wake of the band’s founding and former singer Jello Biafra, who didn’t rejoin the band when they reunited in 2001, suffering a stroke earlier this year. In May, it was shared on Biafra’s Facebook page that he “is progressing nicely,” adding, “His speech has mostly come back in full, and cognitively, it’s like the stroke never happened. The left side is still weak but it is doing much better than it was.”
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