Gord Lewis, a founding member of Canadian punk rock band Teenage Head, was found dead Sunday inside an apartment in Hamilton, Ont. It is believed he was 65.
The guitarist’s body was found by police officers conducting a wellness check and his death is being investigated as the city’s third homicide of the year.
"What a horrific tragedy and a terrible loss," tweeted singer-songwriter Steven Page.
Employees at local media outlets contacted police after receiving multiple messages from Lewis’ son overnight Aug. 6-7 referring to the musician being dead.
According to Hamilton Police Service, officers found the body with injuries “consistent with foul play.” It said a positive identification has not yet been made “due to the level of decomposition.”
Jonathan Lewis, 41, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
Gord Lewis formed Teenage Head in 1975 while in high school in Hamilton.
“I was just a big fan of playing records and listening to bands … and then I wanted to be in a band,” Lewis told Spoke in 2018. “So I just started learning how to play bass guitar on my own.”
They landed a record deal and released their self-titled debut album in 1979, managing to have hits in Canada like “Somethin’ On My Mind” and “Let’s Shake.”
The band’s last studio album, with Marky Ramone, was released in 2008 but a compilation, Fun Comes Fast, came out in 2017. Their early years were chronicled in the 2020 documentary Picture My Face: The Story of Teenage Head.
Lewis was temporarily replaced in the band in the early ’80s after breaking his back in a car accident.
Teenage Head’s Frankie Venom (aka Frank Kerr) died in 2008 after a battle with throat cancer.