On March 25, 1996, Pierce was found unconscious at his father’s home in Salt Lake City , Utah. He was hospitalized and remained in a coma until his death from a brain hemorrhage on March 31, effectively ending the Gun Club.
An increasingly ill Pierce put together a penultimate Gun Club lineup for two shows in Los Angeles in August and September 1995, including guitarists Powers and Mike Martt (ex- Tex & the Horseheads ), and the Wayne Kramer rhythm section of bassist Randy Bradbury and drummer Brock Avery. The final…
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In May 1994, Mori and Pierce split up, and she and Sanderson left the Gun Club (Mori and Sanderson formed Freeheat in 1999 with Jim Reid and Ben Lurie of the Jesus and Mary Chain ). Sanderson and Marche formed Earl Brutus. In the fall of 1994, Pierce put together…
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Simon Fish, who had previously played with Pierce on one of his solo albums, joined the band in March 1992. At the conclusion of a European tour in May 1992, Powers left the band to focus on his other project, Congo Norvell . In February 1993, the band reconvened as…
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The band’s fifth studio effort, Pastoral Hide and Seek , which Pierce produced himself, was released October 1, 1990, on the Fire label. Sanderson departed in December 1990 to focus on his other project, World of Twist. Desperate rejoined to record the Divinity album, released in August 1991 on New…
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After a short stint doing spoken word performances, Pierce decided to reform a new version of the band in October 1986. Powers, who had also been recruited into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at this time, resumed his place at guitar, with Mori switching to bass and Sanderson retaining…
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After the breakup, Powers, Morrison and Desperate formed a band called Fur Bible (Morrison later joined the Sisters of Mercy and the Damned ), while Pierce embarked on a solo career. Pierce assembled a band, the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet, consisting of former members of the Cure and Roxy Music…
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Pierce returned to guitar playing during this lineup, and both he and Powers are credited with guitar on their third album, The Las Vegas Story (the Blasters’ Dave Alvin also played lead guitar on a handful of tracks). Released on June 25, 1984, this album marked a significant change for…
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In January 1983, Graham and Dotson were replaced by guitarist Jim Duckworth (formerly of Tav Falco’s Panther Burns ) and drummer Dee Pop (formerly of the New York band Bush Tetras ). A spare recording session, originally booked for another band, led to the impromptu recording of the Death Party…
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In April 1982, the Gun Club signed to Blondie guitarist Chris Stein ‘s Animal Records, a subsidiary of Chrysalis Records . The band temporarily relocated to New York City to record their follow-up album, 1982’s Miami . This album featured not only Stein as producer, but Blondie’s Debbie Harry singing…
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