Jeremiah Green, the founding drummer of Modest Mouse, has died. Isaac Brock announced the news via the band’s Instagram page on New Year’s Eve. Green’s death came just days after social posts from his friends revealed he was undergoing chemotherapy for stage four cancer. He was 45.

In his post, Brock wrote:

I don’t know a way to ease into this: Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah.
He laid down to rest and simply faded out.
I’d like to say a bunch of pretty words right now, but it just isn’t the time. These will come later, and from many people.

Please appreciate all the love you give,get, have given, and will get.
Above all, Jeremiah was about love.

We love you.

Green was born in 1977 in Oahu, Hawaii, where his father was stationed in the military. He grew up in Moxee, Washington and moved to Seattle at age 12. There, he immersed himself in the local music scene. As a teenager, he started Modest Mouse with Brock and bassist Eric Judy in 1992. He continued to play with Modest Mouse consistently up through his death except for a one-year absence from 2003 to 2004 for mental health reasons, which caused him to miss the sessions for the band’s 2004 commercial breakthrough Good News For People Who Like Bad News.

Early on, Green earned a reputation as one of the most talented and inventive drummers in indie rock. His playing was crucial to Modest Mouse’s distinctive style, merging with Brock’s guitar playing to form an off-kilter rhythmic language all their own. Whether he was supplying a lightly loping backbeat, hard-charging punk aggression, or a disco-infused dance track, his drumming was brilliant and unmistakable. To listen through The Lonesome Crowded West was to be amazed at the mixture of rawness and grace Green brought to the drum kit.

Below, check out Brock’s tribute post and a range of Modest Mouse tracks spotlighting Green’s playing.