Techno Pioneer Juan Atkins Dead At 64

Juan Atkins, the DJ and producer who essentially invented techno and also gave the genre its name, has passed away. As Resident Advisor reports, Atkins was found unresponsive in a Mexico City hotel room on Saturday, ahead of a planned performance at YuYu Cine Club. He was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital. No cause of death has been reported yet. Atkins was 64.Atkins was born in Detroit and mostly raised in the neighboring town of Belleville. In high school, he became close friends with fellow future Detroit techno pioneers Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson; they later formed a group called the Belleville Three. While studying at Washtenaw Community College, Atkins met Vietnam War veteran Richard Davis, and the two of them formed the duo Cybotron in 1980. Atkins and Davis both loved the Afro-futuristic funk of Parliament-Funkadelic and the early electronic music of Kraftwerk, and they fused it in the minimal sci-fi sound of Cybotron, recording with only synthesizers and drum machines. Cybotron released their debut single "Alleys Of Your Mind" in 1981, and it got regional Black radio exposure from the Electrifying Mojo, a hugely influential DJ who would play funk ...