Legendary musician, Rowland S. Howard, passed away on December 30th in Melbourne, Australia at the age of 50. The cause of death was liver cancer and he had been on a list awaiting a transplant for at least a few months.

Howard joined The Boys Next Door and penned their best known song, “Shivers,” in 1979.  Shortly afterwars, the band (which included Nick Cave on vocals) changed their name to The Birthday Party and released three full length LPs and two EPs before disbanding in 1983. His incendiary guitar work and original songwriting helped to define the sound of one of the very best bands of the era.

After the dissolution of group, Rowland S. Howard, played guitar in Crime and the City Solution along with fellow Birthday Party cohort, Mick Harvey, for an album and a few EPs before forming These Immortal Souls in 1987. After two stunning records under that moniker, Howard began recording under his own name. In October 2009, he released his second album, Pop Crimes and performed in concert for the last time in Melbourne. His brilliant body of work is criminally unknown, but has garnered a cult following of devoted fans.

In addition to his own albums, Howard has played guitar on a wealth of recordings by other artists including Lydia Lunch, Nikki Sudden, Fad Gadget, Barry Adamson, Einsturzende Neubauten, Mick Harvey and Henry Rollins.