Dennis Thompson, drummer and last member of the MC5, has died aged 75

Dennis Thompson, the high-energy drummer for influential Detroit band MC5, died Thursday (May 9). He was 75 years old.

The rocker died at the MediLodge of Taylor in Michigan, where he was recovering from a heart attack in April, according to the local news station. Detroit Free Press. Thompson was the last surviving member of the band, which is set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this fall in the category of musical excellence. Thompson were preceded in death by singer Rob Tyner, guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, bassist Michael Davis and guitarist Wayne Kramer, the latter of whom died in February of this year.

Thompson joined the MC5 in 1965. While the band had little commercial success at first and its core lineup did not last beyond the early 1970s, its legacy endured, both for its sound and fusion of music with political action. During the band's tenure, three studio albums were released, 1969 Kick Out the Jams1970s Back to the US and of 1971 High time.

In 2022, two years before his death, Kramer announced that two new singles, an album and a national tour are on the horizon for We Are All MC5, Kramer's reimagining of the band that started it all. However, due to the death of the other band members, no album arrived. “We have just survived four devastating years of a failed presidency and a devastating pandemic,” Cramer said in a statement at the time. “It had become so polarizing and depressing that bringing in other writers was like an injection of hope. Tom Morello, Jill Sobule, Tim McIlrath, Kesha and Alejandro Escovedo helped me expand the work using the most powerful weapon there is: our creativity.”