Don Martin, founding bassist with new wave group Mi-Sex, died early Monday after battling of prostate cancer. He was 66.
“Those who have been fortunate to have met Don Martin, or been a part of his amazing life, know just what a special man he was,” keyboardist Murray Burns wrote in a tribute on Facebook. “Don was a strong man, yet a caring and angelic soul, who always invited a warm embrace.”
Burns said Martin hosted a living wake in January. "It is so very special and brave to be present to speak at one's own wake,” he remembered. “Of course, Don always has had a different, humorous, and often unique slant on life.”
A New Zealand native, Martin played in a pair of progressive rock bands before forming Mi-Sex in 1978 with Burns, vocalist Steve Gilpin, guitarist Kevin Stanton and drummer Richard Hodgkinson. (Gilpin died in a car accident in 1992 and Stanton died in 2017.)
The band released four albums between 1979 and 1983 and had a No. 2 hit in Canada with “Computer Games.” Other singles include "People" and "But You Don't Care."
Mi-Sex went on a hiatus in 1986 but reunited in 2011 and released one more album, 2016’s Not From Here.
Martin died with his partner Adele and children Damian and Nadia at his side, according to a statement.