Tributes have been paid after the death of prolific musician and DJ Gregg Foreman, the former frontman of The Delta 72, who has died aged 53.
The Philadelphia native led the band from their formation in 1994, capturing audiences’ attentions with his flamboyant, James Brown-inspired moves that were in line with the band’s hybrid of post-punk and British Invasion-era R&B.
They split after releasing three studio albums, and Foreman went on to work with a vast range of musicians and bands, including the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Pink Mountaintops, The Meek and The Black Ryder.
In 2006, he began playing regularly with Cat Power as part of her ‘Dirty Delta Blues Band’, eventually becoming her musical director, and in 2019 he joined the Gossip for their European tour.
He also worked alongside Suicide’s Alan Vega and Martin Rev, Lydia Lunch, Lucinda Williams, Death Valley Girls, Jesse Malin and Linda Perry.
A ravenous music lover, he also worked as a music journalist in Philadelphia, hosted a radio show promoting underground music and became a sought-after DJ all around the world, playing R&B, mod, psych and post-punk records.
Along those to pay tribute to Foreman include former Primal Scream bassist Simone Marie Butler, who wrote on Instagram: “Such awful news to hear about Gregg’s passing earlier today. We had been friends since I went to LA in 2014. He was a gifted musician and musician fanatic who come then his band to pretty much any musical instrument. I hope u are with your mum now in that great gig in the sky.”
I guess the word is out. First met Gregg Foreman in the year 2000 and reconnected when I moved to LA. He introduced me to Amy shortly after and the rest is history. Like others, he bounced in and out of our lives and changed each one he visited. For better or for worse, he lived… pic.twitter.com/ymNIaCRppA
— COLD CAVE (@ColdCave23) April 22, 2026
Wesley Eisold of Cold Cave also shared his reflections, saying he first met Foreman in 2000 and later became close to him when he moved to Los Angeles.
“Like others, he bounced in and out of our lives and changed each one he visited,” he wrote. “For better or for worse, he lived a life that others only claim to have lived and he was one of one. His love for music was as genuine as the pain he harbored. Wishing you peace Gregg, for all of eternity, heavenly sounds and cosmic rhythms.”
See a range of other tributes here:
deepest condolences to all friends, family and bandmates of Gregg Foreman
— Matador Records (@matadorrecords) April 22, 2026
NME reviewed a gig by The Delta 72 in London in 2005, noting: “He hugs the microphone stand for support, sweat-drenched and understandably so. In the preceding 90 seconds, Gregg Foreman has leapt from the stage, danced on the bar, swooped to the floor and back-flipped up into a perfect kneeling-prayer position, bounded back onstage and executed the latest in a series of eye-wateringly impressive splits. Look deep into his wired eyes and you can see the flicker of disappointment as he realises there’s no lighting rig to swing from.”
