Mazzy Star co-founder David Roback has died

David Roback co-founded Mazzy Star with vocalist Hope Sandoval in 1988. Roback produced all of their releases, as well as co-writing everything with Sandoval. 

Guitarist, songwriter and producer David Roback has passed away aged 61. Roback’s music career dates back to the early 1980s. He was a key figure in LA’s neo-psychedelia scene dubbed the Paisley Underground. He formed the band Rain Parade with his brother Steven Roback, but left after releasing the 1983 debut Emergency Third Rail Power Trip.

Roback went on to form Opal with vocalist Kendra Smith. Opal laid the blueprint for Roback’s future career endeavours. Smith left Opal during the tour behind 1987’s Happy Nightmare Baby LP, which led to Sandoval being appointed the band’s new singer.

Listen: Opal – Rocket Machine

Opal were signed to Rough Trade and the UK label expected a follow up to Happy Nightmare Baby. But instead of persisting with the old name, Roback and Sandoval conceived Mazzy Star. The group’s first album was 1990’s She Hangs Brightly. It introduced their distinctive dream pop sound, while also hearkening back to classic LA psych-folk.

Mazzy Star’s major breakthrough came with 1993’s So Tonight That I Might See, which yielded their most enduring single, ‘Fade Into You’. It wasn’t a mega chart hit, but ‘Fade Into You’ has been etched into indie rock history. Pitchfork named it the 19th best song of the 1990s and it’s featured in a host of films and TV shows including Gilmore Girls and Starship Troopers.

Listen: Mazzy Star – Fade Into You

Mazzy Star released a third album, Among My Swan, in 1996. But while a critical success, it failed to improve on the success of So Tonight That I Might See. The band went on hiatus the following year and wouldn’t release any new music until the 2013 comeback album Seasons of Your Day.

They reunited once again in 2018 and the final release of Roback’s lifetime was Mazzy Star’s Still EP, which arrived in June of that year. Roback’s cause of death hasn’t yet been made public.

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