Tuxedomoon's Bruce Geduldig Dies at the Age of 63

Bruce Geduldig, a longtime member of the San Francisco experimental synth band Tuxedomoon, died from an ongoing illness on Monday, his 63rd birthday.

Tuxedomoon co-founder Blaine L. Reininger published the news of Geguldig’s death on the band’s website, writing:

Our erstwhile colleague and collaborator, Bruce Geduldig has died, on the occasion of his 63rd birthday, March 7, 2016. He departed from his home town, Sacramento, California, attended by his family and friends. He had been suffering for many years from liver complaints. We will miss him sorely.

Reininger and Steven Brown started Tuxedmoon in 1977 and Geduldig reportedly joined the band in 1979 to add to the band’s live performances, providing backing vocals and onstage visuals. A video artist, he had been helping Tuxedomoon member and performance artist Winston Tong with multimedia components for his theater shows before he began working with the group.

“From then on, he was a constant feature in the live show, contributing to its unique gesamtkunst presentation,” Reininger wrote.

The band released two EPs and two albums — Half-Mute (1980) and Desire (1981) — on Ralph Records before they, Geduldig included, moved to Brussels; they felt their sound fit better in Europe’s growing electronic music scene.

After releasing five more albums, the band would break up in the ’90s, but reunite less than a decade later for a show in Tel Aviv. Not long after, they would return to recording and playing live. Since 2004, they have released five new albums.

But Tuxedomoon wasn’t Geduldig’s only musical endeavor — he fronted the satirical electronic pop band The Weathermen for many years, releasing several albums and garnering attention with their song “Poison.” Later, Geduldig would start the cabaret jazz-pop group MICRODOT with fellow Tuxedomoon member Luc van Lieshout.

Since 2014, Geduldig had been living in his hometown of Sacramento with his wife, filmmaker Bernadette Martou, who he met while living in Brussels. She died in April of 2015.

Below is a tribute to Geduldig by the band Cult With No Name, which features him singing. Cult With No Name collaborated with Geduldig and Tuxedomoon in 2014.