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| Dick Wagner |
He was 71, according to THR.
Wagner, who also was part of the groups The Frost and Ursa Major, had been hospitalized after contracting a lung infection following heart surgery in early July. Though he had posted a Facebook message July 21 saying, "I can't wait to play for you all again one day soon" — signed "Dick'N THE ICU" — Wagner was in a medically induced coma at the time of his death from respiratory failure.
Said Cooper: "Even though we know it's inevitable, we never expect to suddenly lose close friends and collaborators. Dick Wagner and I shared as many laughs as we did hit records. He was one of a kind. He is irreplaceable. His brand of playing and writing is not seen anymore, and there are very few people that I enjoyed working with as much as I enjoyed working with Dick Wagner."
"Dick Wagner was the consummate gentleman axeman. (He) will be missed," Kiss' Gene Simmons said in a statement, noting that Wagner played the "blistering" guitar solo on the Destroyer track "Sweet Pain." Kiss frontman Paul Stanley had this to say: "Dick was a stellar player and his work with Steve Hunter on Lou Reed's Rock N Roll Animal is legendary. He also did great work with Alice Cooper and uncredited ghosting on Destroyer and albums by some of our contemporaries. A huge talent with a huge tone and huge heart. A great unsung hero."
Wagner was born in Iowa and grew up in Saginaw, Mich., where his first band, the Bossmen, garnered some national radio play for its single "Baby Boy." Its successor, The Frost, released three albums for Vanguard Records and had a minor hit with "Rock and Roll Music" and was part of a robust Michigan music scene that included the MC5, the Stooges, the Bob Seger System, the Rationals and others. Wagner relocated to New York City in 1972 to start the band Ursa Major, whose original lineup included Billy Joel on keyboards.
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