This well-known and beloved 90’s icon died yesterday after a two-year battle with ALS. 90’s kids, get your tissues ready because this icon has touched a lot of lives.
Her husband shared the sad news on social media yesterday, revealing that after two years of fighting ALS, Kim Shattuck had finally succumbed to the disease. She was just 56 years old.
Kim was a 90’s punk icon, famously fronting the band The Muffs. She also played with The Pixies and did vocals for many bands like NoFX and Bowling for Soup.
Her husband’s social media post is heartbreaking and shows the kind of love they had. He wrote that Kim passed peacefully in her sleep the night before after struggling with ALS for the past two years.
ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and is a disease that causes the death of the neurons in your brain that control voluntary muscle movement. It is very rare, with fewer than 20,000 new cases being diagnosed every year, and there is no known cure.
Kevin Sutherland, her husband, continued that he was the man that he is today “because of her. She will live with all of us through her music, our shared memories and in her fierce creative spirit… thank you for sharing your life with me.”
The news of her passing comes at a tragic time, as The Muffs are scheduled to release their first album in five years. On October 18, No Holiday is set to drop.
The Muffs was originally started as a collaboration between Kim and long-time best friend Melanie Vammen, who were both members of The Pandoras, an all-female rock group in the 80s.
They are best known for their cover of Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America”, which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1995 movie Clueless. Most 90s kids can’t hear “Kids in America” without immediately being pulled back into that iconic movie.
Social media is blowing up today after the news came out, with countless bands paying tribute or expressing loss at Shattuck’s passing.
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day shared on Instagram that the band had listened to The Muff’s debut album on repeat while they were crafting their own debut album, Dookie.
The Pixie’s official Twitter shared that they are “devastated” after learning the news and that they were fortunate for having known and worked with her. Kim toured with the band in 2013 after Kim Deal had left the band.
The 90s punk scene will never be the same.
