PITTSBURGH (N.Y. Times) — Robert Buck, the lead guitarist for the popular alternative-rock band 10,000 Maniacs, died on Tuesday in Pittsburgh. He was 42.
The cause was liver failure, according to Blair Woods, the band's publicist, who said Buck died at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian.
Buck was a co-founder of 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and wrote several of the group's biggest hits, including "Hey Jack Kerouac" and "These Are Days," with the group's original singer, Natalie Merchant.
Although Merchant, who left the band in 1993, was its most famous face, Buck's chiming guitar style, which sometimes recalled the mandolin, was arguably as integral to the group's success. As one of alternative rock's most melodic players, he helped 10,000 Maniacs span the divides among folk, country and rock.