Title: JEFFREY LEE PIERCE, ROCK MUSICIAN, 37 Source: The New York Times Date: April 2, 1996 Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the leader of the Gun Club, a trailblazing Los Angeles band that began mixing punk rock with American roots music in 1979, died on Sunday at Utah University Hospital in Salt Lake City. He was 37. The cause was a stroke, said Kim White, his manager. Mr. Pierce, a singer and guitarist, began his career in music as a fan and critic. When he was a teen-ager, he was president of the Blondie fan club. He went on to work in a Los Angeles record store and to write about music for punk-oriented newspapers like Slash. He formed the Gun Club, originally named Creeping Ritual, in 1979 and developed a reputation for flamboyant performances. The band's first album, 'Fire of Love' (1981), remains its most admired, with a fast-paced, irreverent version of the Mississippi blues song 'Preachin' the Blues' and Mr. Pierce's warbling voice wailing about dark themes like drugs and death. The Gun Club went on to release 11 other live and studio albums, and Mr. Pierce recorded two relatively straightforward solo albums. Mr. Pierce is survived by his father, Bob, of Salt Lake City, his mother, Margie, and a sister, Jackie Faretra, both of Los Angeles. © 1996 The New York Times Company. JUST CLICK "BACK" TO RETURN TO THE LIST OF ARTICLES