Teenage Head guitarist Gordie Lewis found dead, son arrested

Hamilton – August 8, 2022
Teenage Head guitarist Gordie Lewis  has been found dead, son Jonathan Lewis arrested and charged.

Guitarist Gordie Lewis, founding member of the seminal Canadian punk band Teenage Head has been found dead in his Hamilton apartment.

Evidence suggests foul play, and that Lewis had been deceased for several days before being found. His son, Jonathan Lewis was reportedly sending emails to local media outlets on Saturday night and Sunday morning, which lead to police finding the remains yesterday.

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Jonathan Lewis, 41, who also lives in the apartment building owned by his father, has been arrested and charged with second degree homicide following a police investigation into the matter. Police said the victim’s injuries were consistent with foul play but did not reveal the nature of the alleged assault.

“A positive identification has not been made of the deceased due to the level of decomposition” said Hamilton police detective Sgt. Sarah Beck.

Teenage Head last took to the stage in 2019, when they played at the CFL’s Labour Day classic between the Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Toronto Argonauts. That same year, Lewis had been hospitalised for five months while he battled depression. Teenage Head were scheduled to perform at Kerrfest In Oakville on September 10th.

Formed in 1975, Teenage Head were iconic in the Canadian punk scene, being one of the earliest bands to champion the style. One of the best known and influential bands of their era.

The band’s performance at The Last Pogo concert on December 1, 1978 at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, ended in a riot and was shut down by the police. The concert was made into a short film by Colin Brunton, The Last Pogo. In 2006, Brunton began a feature-length documentary film about the concert, including additional interviews and footage of Teenage Head.

Gordie Lewis was 65 years old.

 

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