Death; Dennis Thompson, MC5 Drummer and Last Surviving Member has died: Dennis Thompson, the strong and intense drummer for MC5, passed away on Wednesday morning following a string of health problems. Thompson’s approach helped propel the iconic Detroit band. His age was 75.
Thompson was receiving treatment at MediLodge of Taylor after suffering a heart attack in April when he passed suddenly. The drummer, a lifelong resident of Southgate, received news on April 21 that the MC5 was being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame while he was still receiving treatment at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital.
“It’s about f—— time!” was his initial response, according to Becky Tyner, the widow of MC5 frontman Rob Tyner. He expressed to Tyner his excitement to attend the induction ceremony in Cleveland in October.
According to Becky Tyner, “Dennis was thrilled with it, so excited and happy.” “He was optimistic about his recovery and all he wanted was to get home to his cat, Annie.”
The band’s guitarist Fred (Sonic) Smith, bassist Michael Davis, singer Rob Tyner, and guitarist Wayne Kramer all passed away before Thompson, who was the only member still alive. John Sinclair, the group’s previous manager, passed away on April 2.
After graduating from Lincoln Park High School, Thompson’s first significant musical endeavor was fronting the Bounty Hunters, an adolescent garage band, alongside his friend Kramer on guitar.
In 2003, he told the Detroit Free Press, “The school tried to boot me because my hair was a quarter-inch over my ears.” “However, they decided against it because I had an A-minus average and was a member of the National Honor Society.”
At Kramer’s encouragement, he joined the nascent MC5 in 1965, when Thompson said the rock scene in Detroit as “kinetic.” He gave the band’s success credit for having a strong work ethic in the workplace and sharp musical skills that came from frequent woodshedding.