East Bay Ray has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The guitarist, born Raymond Pepperell, co-founded Dead Kennedys in San Francisco in 1978 and is the only person who has been in the band from the start to now.
The announcement came from the band's management. “Ray says he plans to continue performing and touring with Dead Kennedys for as long as his health allows,” it read, “and expressed his appreciation to everyone for their continued support.”
Four shows stand in October: The Showbox in Seattle on the 6th, the Roseland Theater in Portland on the 7th, the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on the 9th, and the Riverside Municipal Auditorium on the 11th.
The guitar parts he wrote are the reason half of this band's records still sound like nothing else, all surf reverb and treble where the genre wanted distortion. A diagnosis that attacks the hands is the specific cruelty in this one, and he has said plainly what he intends to do about it.