Greg Brown, the founding member, singer and guitarist of alternative rock band Cake, has died. His death was first reported on Cake’s Instagram account on Saturday, February 7, although his cause of death is not immediately clear. He was 56, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Remembering Cake’s Greg Brown
A black-and-white photo of Brown was shared on Instagram. In the picture, he is playing guitar. “It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Greg Brown’s passing after a brief illness,” the caption reads. “Greg was an integral part of CAKE’s early sound and development. His creative contributions were immense, and his presence—both musical and personal—will be deeply missed. Godspeed, Greg.”
Fans have flooded the post with messages of love and support, remembering Brown and his contributions to the music industry. “What!!? No!!!! One of my all time favourite guitar players,” a fan shared. “I got a vintage Guild Starfire just like his – coz he created so much magic with it. Singular and irreplaceable talent.”
“The guitar on the “The Distance” was soo good, RIP,” another fan shared.
Other reactions include, “That’s so sad, one of the greatest guitar players in my personal opinion. He will live on in the history he’s made and the musicians he’s inspired. Rest in peace brother,” and “thank you for the inspiration greg.”
Someone named Adri Brown, who appears to be the musician’s daughter, also reacted to the post. “The best dad I could’ve asked for,” she wrote. Her comment has been liked hundreds of times by fans as a show of support.
Greg Brown’s Musical Brilliance
The many comments from people whom Brown inspired highlight just how loved and respected he was. Cake was formed in 1991 by Brown and his bandmate, John McCrea. In a 2021 interview with Billboard, Brown discussed their partnership and the band’s formation. “When I was working with [McCrea], I really felt the forward momentum,” Brown said. “I felt like, ‘Something very creative is happening here.’”
Later in the interview, he spoke about their music, saying, “We were definitely very conceptual about it, for some reason. 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.’” However, Brown left the band in 1997, before the release of Cake’s third album. He is celebrated for his work on the track, “The Distance.”
At the time of the interview, Brown referred to himself as 51, making his age at death around 56.
A Facebook post from Brown’s later band, Deathray, indicated he had suffered “a long illness.”
“We made a lot of music together in this bewildering start/stop way. A lot of it was on the three Deathray releases, but there’s also so much unreleased music. In all of it, there is Greg’s voice. Not just his singing voice, but his tone, his timbre, his articulation. It’s so stirring to me that he could pick up almost any instrument, and that voice would be the first true thing I’d hear. Anyone else in the world could patch in an old Guild through a ProCo Rat into a Silvertone twin twelve, but no one had his voice,” Deathray bandmate Dana Gumbiner wrote on Facebook.
