David Roback, best known as one-half of dream-pop duo Mazzy Star, has died at the age of sixty-one. A longtime stalwart on the Los Angeles music scene, Roback founded Paisley Underground band Rain Parade, and later the group Opal, before starting Mazzy Star with singer Hope Sandoval in 1989. At press time, Roback’s cause of death had yet to be revealed.
Once news of Roback’s passing swept across social media, his contemporaries began giving their condolences.
“This is awful,” shared Carl Newman of The New Pornographers on Twitter. “From Rain Parade to Clay Allison to Rainy Day to Opal to Mazzy Star, I’ve loved everything he’s ever been a part of. Have you ever listened to Opal’s ‘Happy Nightmare Baby’ LP? You should. RIP David Roback.”
“Peace and love David Roback,” tweeted Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles. “My first musical partner and my very dear friend. You will be eternally missed.”
After a hiatus lasting over a decade, Mazzy Star reconvened for an album in 2013, Seasons of Your Day, and an EP in 2018, Still, both released via their own label Rhymes of an Hour. There was one single released from the EP, “Quiet, the Winter Harbor.” Listen to it below.
