Overview

• Flipper announced Bruce Loose’s death at age 66 in a Facebook post on September 6.
• An Instagram post cited by music outlets reported an apparent heart attack after a prolonged struggle, a detail not confirmed in the band’s statement.
• Loose was the original co-lead and later sole lead vocalist of Flipper, a formative force in San Francisco’s noise-punk scene.
• He battled severe back problems stemming from a 1994 injury and permanently left the band in 2015 as performing became too difficult.
• Flipper’s influence extended to Nirvana—Kurt Cobain praised their 1982 debut and Krist Novoselic later played and recorded with them—and the group continued with guest vocalists David Yow and then Mike Watt.