Dennis Flemion Of The Frogs Presumed Dead At 57 After Weekend Boating Trip

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 10, 2012 8:00PM

L-R: Dennis Flemion, Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Flemion

In 1980 brothers Dennis and Jimmy Flemion started the lo-fi art-rock duo called The Frogs out of their home city of Milwaukee. The band became cult heroes, and in the '90s worked with Pearl Jam and the Smashing Pumpkins—you have also heard them sampled by Beck on "Where It's At." Sad news came overnight when word spread that Dennis went missing during a weekend family boating trip in Wisconsin, and is now presumed dead. The AP reported that Flemion was "boating with family and friends Saturday afternoon when he went for a swim and did not resurface."

According to Stereogum, the brothers spent "three decades releasing home-recorded snarked-out songs about religion and homosexuality and playing live in ridiculous silvery costumes. They released music on Homestead and Matador, and most of the alt-rock gods of the ’90s professed to love them." It was Billy Corgan himself who hired Dennis as the Smashing Pumpkins’ touring keyboardist in the '90s. Today Corgan Tweeted, "I want to thank so many of you on here for showing Dennis and Jimmy a lot of love. It touches my heart on a tough day." He followed that up with, "I can hear Dennis in my ear saying 'I should be trending fuckers' ha."

Gerard Cosloy of Matador also wrote a heartfelt post today, saying, "Dennis and brother Jimmy were one of the most crucial, if not one of the strangest American bands of the last quarter century." And Jimmy Flemion posted on the band's Facebook page today—saying, in part, "Of everyone imaginable in this life I was given the precious gift to learn at his feet. I have to stop for a second because my hands are shaking so much as I type this and I can't see because of the tears. As my older brother, I looked up to him and followed for I was certain he knew the way." He goes on to recall, "On July 3rd, a veteran from Minnesota stopped me on the street and gave me a pin of a man in a boat with a light tower, no mere coincidence, it was a sign."

With Billy Corgan