David Lynn Thomas, lead singer of Pere Ubu, Rocket From The Tombs, solo artist, and actor, has died after a long illness. He was 72 years old. A highly influential artist and personality in American music, Thomas formed the proto-Punk and pre-Alternative band Rocket From The Tombs (other members went on Dead Boys and The Saucers) and later formed Pere Ubu in 1975. Making an immediate impact, but highly volatile, Pere Ubu which first broke up in 1979, but reformed and recorded and toured for four more decades. Spanning genres from Art punk, post-Punk, avant-garde, musique concrète, New Wave, proto-punk, industrial rock, and alt-Rock, experimental, the band played their brand of music self-described as “avant-gaage”, and Thomas personally disliked Pere Ubu being lumped in with punk-rock as a rule. A great lyricst, vocalist, and frontman, he will be missed. RIP.
David Thomas, June 14 1953 – April 23 2025.
David Lynn Thomas, lead singer of Pere Ubu, Rocket From The Tombs and multiple solo projex, has died after a long illness.
On Wednesday, April 23 2025, he died in his home town of Brighton & Hove, with his wife and youngest step-daughter by his side. MC5 were playing on the radio. He will ultimately be returned to his home, the farm in Pennsylvania, where he insisted he was to be “thrown in the barn.”
David Thomas and his band have been recording a new album. He knew it was to be his last. We will endeavour to continue with mixing and finalising the new album so that his last music is available to all. Aside from that, he left instruction that the work should continue to catalog all the tapes from live shows via the official bandcamp page. His autobiography was nearly completed and we will finish that for him. Pere Ubu’s Patreon will continue as a community, run by communex.
We’ll leave you with his own words, which sums up who he was better than we can –
“My name is David Fucking Thomas… and I’m the lead singer of the best fucking rock and roll band in the world.”
(Frigo Documentary)
Long Live Pere Ubu.