Grant Hart, Hüsker Dü Drummer and Singer, Dies at 56

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Grant Hart, a drummer, vocalist and songwriter for the influential Minnesota rock band Hüsker Dü, has died. He was 56.
His death was confirmed by the band’s publicist, Ken Weinstein. The cause of death was cancer, Mr. Weinstein said.

Hüsker Dü was formed by Mr. Hart, the guitarist Bob Mould and the bassist Greg Norton in the late 1970s in St. Paul, Minn., and the trio soon became known for high-volume blasts of heart-quickening rock that could not quite disguise the hooks buried beneath the noise.

An early member of the hardcore movement, Hüsker Dü was a prolific presence in the 1980s, releasing six albums in fewer than six years. The band’s 1984 double album, “Zen Arcade,” was lauded by The New York Times, which said it was arguably the best record “to have emerged from the hardcore scene.”

Challenging punk orthodoxy with experimental takes on genre and ambitious narrative elements, “Zen Arcade” introduced the band to a wider audience and reimagined the boundaries of hardcore.

Mr. Hart and Mr. Mould, both independent-minded musicians and artists, frequently clashed over the band’s direction —both were songwriters — and the group’s contentious breakup, late in 1987, came in the wake of substance abuse accusations.

“I didn’t enjoy playing hardcore,” Mr. Hart said in the A.V. Club interview. “At the time, while I was drummer for Hüsker Dü even though I played other instruments, it was just such a damn boring job for a drummer.”

Mr. Mould said in a Facebook post that Mr. Hart’s death was not unexpected, and he acknowledged their occasional differences.