Prolific songwriter and producer David Roback has died. The news was confirmed by a representative for the band – no cause of death has been announced yet. He was 61.
Roback worked in numerous projects throughout his life, perhaps most notably as the co-founder of dream-pop/psych act Mazzy Star alongside vocalist Hope Sandoval. Before Mazzy Star, Roback was a fixture of the Paisley Underground scene in the 1980s. Roback co-founded the group Rain Parade, leaving after the release of their debut album Emergency Third Rail Power Trip.
After Rain Parade, Roback formed the group Clay Allison alongside The Dream Syndicate’s Kendra Smith. After their first single, the band subsequently changed their name to Opal in 1984. The band put out numerous singles and EPs before releasing their debut Happy Nightmare Baby in 1987. After Smith departed Opal while the band was on tour with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sandoval was brought in as a replacement vocalist.
Roback and Sandoval would tour under the Opal moniker for two years, eventually opting to start over with a new project that would ultimately become Mazzy Star. The two released the first Mazzy Star record, She Hangs Brightly in 1990. Their sophomore effort, So Tonight I Might See, became the band’s first major breakthrough, catapulted by the success of the iconic single “Fade Into You.”
After releasing Among My Swan in 1996, Mazzy Star took a hiatus. They’d return several times over the next subsequent decades, releasing what would be their final full-length album in 2013 with Seasons of Your Day. They would also release the Still EP in 2018.
Join us in remembering Roback’s life by revisiting some of our favorite songs from his projects below.
