Greg Brown, a founding guitarist of the Sacramento rock band Cake and the sole writer of its breakout single "The Distance," has died.
His age was not shared in the announcement, though a 2021 Billboard profile listed him as 51 at the time.
Cake confirmed Brown's death in a social media post shared Saturday, accompanied by a black-and-white photograph of the musician.
"It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Greg Brown's passing after a brief illness," the band wrote on Instagram.
The group did not provide further details regarding the cause of death.
Brown was a founding member of Cake, which formed in Sacramento, California, in 1991.
He worked alongside vocalist John McCrea, trumpeter and keyboardist Vince DiFiore, and other early members to help establish the band's original lineup and sound.
Brown played guitar on Cake's first two studio albums, 1994's "Motorcade of Generosity" and 1996's "Fashion Nugget," according to Billboard.
He was the sole songwriter of "The Distance," the 1996 single that became one of the band's most widely recognized songs.
In its announcement, Cake highlighted Brown's role in the band's early years.
"Greg was an integral part of CAKE's early sound and development," the group wrote. "His creative contributions were immense, and his presence — both musical and personal — will be deeply missed. Godspeed, Greg."
Brown left Cake in 1997 after touring in support of "Fashion Nugget."
The band released its third album, "Prolonging the Magic," the following year.
In a 2021 interview with Billboard, Brown said his decision to leave was influenced by personal circumstances at the time.
"I might have told you one thing back when I was 27 years old, and I left hot-headed and mad about what I considered to be irreconcilable personality problems or whatever," he said. "As 51-year-old me, I see a much larger context of what was going on in my life.
"Rather than get into all of it, I would just say there was a lot of turmoil at the time, and I felt like leaving Cake would be a decision that would be good for my health."
After leaving Cake, Brown co-founded the band Deathray with former Cake bassist Victor Damiani.
He later collaborated with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo in the short-lived side project Homie, playing on the song "American Girls" from the 1998 "Meet the Deedles" soundtrack, and contributed to a solo project by Matt Sharp.
Brown released two albums with Deathray in the early 2000s. He later reunited with Cake, returning as a guest guitarist on the song "Bound Away," which appeared on the band's 2011 album "Showroom of Compassion."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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