NEW YORK (AFP).- Punk pioneer Alan Vega, whose band Suicide brought a confrontational edge to rock with its jarring electronics, nihilistic lyricism and physically violent shows, has died. He was 78.

The New York artist, who once said he expected to be killed in concert, died peacefully in his sleep Saturday, his family said.

In a statement published online by punk singer and poet Henry Rollins, Vega's family called his life "a lesson of what it is to truly live for art."

"After decades of constant output, the world seemed to catch up with Alan and he was acknowledged as the groundbreaking creative individual he had been from the very start," it said.

Born in Brooklyn as Alan Bermowitz, Vega first pursued a career as a sculptor but took to music when he met future Suicide bandmate Martin Rev.

They started with no instruments or songs in any remotely traditional sense.

Rev bought a $10 Japanese-made keyboard, on which he would pound as Vega shouted with unadulterated aggression. The band completed the sound with a drum machine.

Suicide's self-titled first album in 1977 brought mostly scathing reviews but the band became legendary for its live shows, as audiences would throw chairs, bottles or -- one time when the duo opened for The Clash -- an ax.

Vega -- who described his singing style as the equivalent of blowing a trumpet without the instrument -- would hit right back, turning his microphone into a weapon and ramming into the crowd or, if still on stage, cutting himself.

A 'punk music mass'
Vega said that Suicide consciously chose not to be "entertainers" when the duo first took to the stage at clubs in Manhattan's then dodgy East Village and Lower East Side areas.

"People came off the street to be entertained by our band and forget their problems for a while, but when they come to a Suicide show they got the street right back in their faces and that alone probably antagonized everybody," he said in a 2008 interview with Igloo magazine.

To promote its first shows in 1971, Suicide handed out fliers for a "punk music mass," likely marking the first time an act identified itself as "punk."

"Up until then the word didn't exist. But it was just an attitude thing. We never dreamed there would be a punk movement," Vega said.

Rock journalist Lester Bangs had initially used the term "punk" to describe Iggy and the Stooges, whose raucous live shows were one of the early inspirations for Suicide along with New York avant-garde legends The Velvet Underground.

Suicide would go on to be a major influence in itself, especially in Britain where it helped paved the way for both the gloomy electronic backdrops of New Order and Joy Division and the ear-splitting guitar static of The Jesus and Mary Chain.

In the United States, Vega served as a model for New Wave innovators The Cars, whose frontman Ric Ocasek became a close friend, and even found a fan in Bruce Springsteen, who covered Suicide's "Dream Baby Dream."

Springsteen said that he was moved to write "Nebraska," his classic 1982 album in which he turned to a bleaker sound, in part after hearing "Frankie Teardrop," a 10-minute song on Suicide's debut album about a factory worker who kills his wife and children.

The song hardly won universal praise. The British novelist Nick Hornby, in a book of music essays, said he had had plenty of scares in his own life including dying friends, concluding: "Please forgive me if I don't want to hear 'Frankie Teardrop' right now."

Suicide's last album was 2002's "American Supreme," which brought in jazz elements but was a characteristically difficult listening experience, with takes on the September 11 attacks.

Vega remained active until his death, with Suicide playing in London, New York and Paris in recent years. He is survived by his wife and son, as well as Martin Rev.



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