David Roback, an acclaimed-but-reclusive guitarist who co-founded the 1990s alternative rock band Mazzy Star alongside vocalist Hope Sandoval, has died, according to reports. He was 61.
The cause and exact date of his death have not yet been reported.
Before reaching the height of his fame with Mazzy Star, Roback was a multifaceted musician who started two other bands during California’s psychedelic underground rock movement in the 1980s and 1990s.
His first band, Rain Parade, which he founded with his brother, recorded only one album before he left the group and founded Opal in the mid-1980s.
When his Opal bandmate Kendra Smith left the group in the middle of a tour, Sandoval joined Roback and Mazzy Star was born.
The duo went on to sign with Capitol Records and released Mazzy Star’s first album, “She Hangs Brightly,” in 1990.
Roback and Sandoval scored a major hit in 1993 with the single “Fade Into You,” described by Variety magazine as a gentle rocker from their album, “So Tonight That I Might See.”
“Fade Into You” was highly successful and still receives its share of radio airplay today.
Two videos were also made for the song, which reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1994 and was the group’s only single to make the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 44, according to reports.
After that, Roback and Sandoval only recorded one more album, “Among My Swan,” about three years after the band’s debut.
Variety reports that Roback later worked with British singer Beth Orton on her 1999 “Central Reservation” album and with Scottish folk guitarist Bert Jansch.
He also contributed to songs by actress Maggie Cheung in the 2004 film “Clean,” where he made an appearance, Variety reported.
In 2009, the band’s track “Into Dust” was used in a Virgin Media advertisement as well as in a trailer for the popular video game “Gears of War 3,” which made it onto the British singles chart.
Roback grew up in Pacific Palisades, California, graduating from Palisades High School in 1975.
He reportedly spent most of the last decade living in Norway.
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