[font size="4"]Richard Lyons, Negativland Founder, Dead at 57[/font]
Artist was suffering complications due to nodular melanoma

By Kory Grow April 21, 2016, Rolling Stone



Culture-jamming avant-garde music collective Negativland has announced that one of its founding members, Richard Lyons, died Tuesday of complications due to a nodular melanoma. A Facebook post says he died "peacefully and pain free."

Lyons, who was also known under the pseudonym Pastor Dick, had been battling cancer for over 12 years. It recently returned, and doctors discovered inoperable tumors on his spine, liver and brain.

Negativland reported that since Lyons' death coincided with his birthday, he was able to have a "lively" birthday party earlier in the day at the nursing facility where he was receiving care. A number of members of the group showed up for the celebration, and others participated remotely.

"With photos being taken of people taking photos of phones, phone speakers going right and left (with a dog barking on one of them), and some New Age harp being played, the afternoon felt like an Actual Negativland Performance for the ages," the band's Facebook reported. "David 'The Weatherman' Wills led the group in singing the now-public-domain 'Happy Birthday.' ... Richard's mother Evelyn called in a bit later, and her voice was the last he heard before dying. An on-duty nurse commented that 'I hope when I go that my last day is as good as his was.'"