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Glorious Din Drummer Pete Herstedt Dies Aged 65

Pete Herstedt, of Glorious Din, 

passed away Tuesday morning June 7th in Portland Oregon where he had been living with his wife, Cathy since the 90's. News of Pete's devastating passing came to us by way of Eric Cope earlier today.






Earlier today guitarist, Jay Padget posted on the Glorious Din Facebook page. "I received some sad news from Pete's wife Cathy yesterday. After a struggle with cancer Pete passed away last week. Unbelievable. I was shocked even though I knew he recently had a stem cell treatment. I talked to him a couple weeks ago and he was doing pretty well. He sounded just like his old self" / Jay 


Pete had battled cancer for some time and had been in touch with two of his Glorious Din bandmates Jay Padget and Eric Cope just weeks before. Pete had to be rushed to the hospital the very next morning after a long conversation with Eric the night before. He had been in good spirits, laughing and making fun of "the stupid Sex Pistols series", reading Sci-Fi and History books and chatting with old friends.


Often Compared to Joy Division, Glorious Din made their everlasting mark on post-punk music with their own inimitable style in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene during the 80's where they shared a rehearsal space and played numerous shows with Faith No More (Who was fronted by Courtney Love at the time). 




With Pete's hypnotic drumming style, Glorious Din contributed two of post-punks finest albums to the world, 'Leading Stolen Horses' in 1985 and 'Closely Watched Trains' in 1987, both of which have influenced numbers of bands that followed. Glorious Dins influential reach links together the likes of Faith No More, the Dead Kennedys and Michael Franti, as well as REM and the Cocteau Twins. The group were also very involved in their local Bay Area music scene and loved helping unknown bands get the recognition they deserved. (Photo: Peter Herstedt with Billy Gould of Faith No More)



To quote Nathan Leigh at Afropunk.com - "Listening to Glorious Din 30 years later, you can hear a foreshadowing of Nirvana in the atonal guitar lines, a hint of Fugazi in the powerful forward-focused rhythm section, the roots of REM’s jangly mumblecore, and even the origins of Trent Reznor’s clinical aversion to cymbals in the drum work. But more than just who they influenced, Glorious Din’s three-year run produced a pair of post-punk’s finest records, before the band’s own glorious din disappeared in a cloud as mysterious as their mercurial lead singer."






Besides Glorious Din, Pete was in the bands Harry's Picket Fence and The Koel Family. With numerous releases and appearances, Pete has left a lasting impression on the music world and beyond and will be missed.









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