Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green has died at the age of 45, the band announced Saturday.
“I don’t know a way to ease into this: Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah,” the band wrote in an Instagram post on New Year’s Eve, which included a photo of Green and what appeared to be a tour bus in the background. “He laid down to rest and simply faded out. I’d like to say a bunch of pretty words right now, but it just isn’t the time. These will come later, and from many people.”
“Please appreciate all the love you give, get, have given, and will get,” the group added. “Above all, Jeremiah was about love.”
Green died “peacefully in his sleep” after enduring a “courageous battle to cancer,” according to his mother, Carole Namatame, who paid tribute to her son on Facebook.
“Jeremiah was a light to so many,” Namatame said. “At this time the family is requesting privacy. More information will be forthcoming including a Celebration of Life for friends and fans in the coming months.”
Namatame did not indicate what kind of cancer her son had, but in a Christmas Day Facebook message asked for supporters to “send healing vibes” to Green “who is battling stage 4 cancer.”
Just four days before Green died, Modest Mouse lead singer Isaac Brock said on Instagram that the diagnosis came “a short while ago.”
“He’s currently in treatment. It seems to be going smoothly and making a positive difference,” Brock wrote next to a black and white photo of Green in a snow jacket with his hood up. “Jeremiah, as am I, are believers in the power of positive energy, so if you would be so kind as to send ‘good vibes’ ( to quote Jeremiah) in the direction of Jeremiah and his family, that’d be great.
“Modest Mouse had recently wrapped its tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough second album, The Lonesome Crowded West, on Dec. 20 in Washington, D.C. While it’s unclear how long Green made it on the tour, fan videos show him performing as recently as their Dec. 1 show in Los Angeles.
Green had been a founding member of the Issaquah, Wash., group, along with lead singer Brock and bass guitarist Eric Judy. The trio formed the band in 1992 and went on to release popular indie genre songs like 1995’s “Trailer Trash” and 2004’s “Float On.” Green briefly left Modest Mouse in 2003, but rejoined a year later.
Over the past 20 years, the band has released seven studio albums: This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, The Lonesome Crowded West, The Moon & Antarctica, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, Strangers to Ourselves, The Golden Casket and Good News for People Who Love Bad News, which earned the group a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.
Modest Mouse is set to kick off their next tour in March at Lollapalooza Argentina 2023. The band has not yet said if Green’s death will impact the tour dates. (People)