Aussie alt-rock icons Magic Dirt have taken to social media today to share a heartfelt tribute to their late bandmate Dean Turner on the 10th anniversary of his passing.

Back in the late ’80s, a Victorian teenager by the name of Dean Turner teamed up with friend Adalita Srsen to form a new band. Within a couple of years, the group had expanded, adopted the name Magic Dirt, and soon went on to become one of the most acclaimed groups on the Aussie scene.

Hitting the Aussie charts frequently with their long list of albums and singles, Magic Dirt found themselves as legends of the Australian music industry, while Turner expanded his reach by producing records and even serving as the manager of Brisbane’s Violent Soho.

Tragically though, August of 2009 saw the untimely passing of Turner. Having battled the rare dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans tissue cancer for most of a decade, the group paid tribute to the bassist by sharing their final release to date – the White Boy EP – and embarking on a final tour.

While Magic Dirt have since reformed for live performances, the years since have seen Dean Turner’s name grace a stage at the Laneway Festival, with organisers also supporting the Yiriman Project in his honour.

Now, on the 10th anniversary of his passing, his bandmates have taken to social media to share a heartfelt tribute to the late icon of the Aussie music scene.

“Today ten years ago, we lost our dear friend and band mate, Dean Turner,” Magic Dirt wrote on Facebook.

“The sense of loss and the pain has not diminished in any way and we carry his memory with us always, and everywhere in whatever we do, but it is not the grief and sadness that we want to share, because Dean was a bright and beautiful man that always tried to bring light and joy to the world.

“We miss him more than ever, but we are so happy that his music continues to give people joy and happiness, so now when we play and look out to the crowd, we see Dean’s love and music radiating out, still touching people, still beating, rockin’ and snarlin’, it’s really, really hard sometimes but mostly it’s a massive overwhelming rush.”

Similarly, the members of Violent Soho also took to Twitter to share a post thanking Turner for everything he did for the band in their early years.

“It’s been 10 years today without you Dean,” they wrote. “We love you forever and we’ll never forget what a fucking amazing human you are.”

Check out Dean Turner performing with Magic Dirt on Recovery:

YouTube VideoPlay

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine