Lux Interior, singer with New York punk band The Cramps, died February 4th, 2009, aged 62, publicist Aleix Martinez has confirmed. He was being treated at a hospital in California for a pre-existing heart condition.
Mr. Interior, born Erick Lee Purkhiser, in Cleveland, OH, formed the influential band in 1973 with his wife Poison Ivy.
Pioneers of the legendary downtown New York punk scene, The Cramps went on to release 14 albums, the latest being the compilation, How To Make a Monster. They were the first known band to blend punk with rockabilly, and are widely recognized as innovators of voodoo psychobilly music.
Morbid as it may sound, Lux would have smiled at the headline. You had to know him to make that statement, and I was lucky to have known him. He was a wonderful man, an obsessed record collector and perfectionist, and The Cramps place in U.S. Music History places them as one of the most original and important bands of all time.