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Guitarist with proto-punk band MC5, Wayne Kramer played in a number of other bands over the course of a long solo career. Born Wayne Stanley Krambes in Detroit, Michigan on April 30, 1948, he formed the MC5 in 1963 with guitarist Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith and singer Rob Tyner, under the supervision of manager John Sinclair, a poet and free jazz enthusiast known for his political activism. Under his influence, the MC5 (Motor City Five) forged their live reputation in a style that borrowed from garage rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock, blues and rock'n'roll, as evidenced by their debut album Kick Out the Jams (1969), recorded live, which made headlines and symbolized the counterculture on the move. Followed by studio albums Back in the USA (1970) and High Time (1971), the MC5 split in 1972. However, Kick Out the Jams remains a pivotal album in rock history. Wayne Kramer served a prison sentence for drug trafficking before resuming his musical career in 1979 with Don Was in the group Was (Not Was). He then played alongside Johnny Thunders in Gang War, whose only recording appeared in 1990. While accompanying or producing other groups he also recorded solo albums including Death Tongue (1991), The Hard Stuff (1995), Dangerous Madness (1996), Citizen Wayne (1997), LLMF (live, 1998), Adult World (2002), and Lexington (2014), named after the prison where he served his sentence. He also formed three musical projects: Dodge Main in 1996, Mad for the Racket in 2000 and Xmarsx with saxophonist Mars Williams in 2002. In addition to collaborations with Bad Religion, Mudhoney, Rage Against the Machine, and Coheed and Cambria, he committed himself to the Jail Guitar Doors association, which provided musical instruments to prisoners. He took part in MC5 reunions, including one celebrating the 50th anniversary of Kick Out the Jams in 2018. In 2021, Wayne Kramer appeared on the Detroit Stories album by another native of the city, Alice Cooper. Wayne Kramer died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles on February 2, 2024, at the age of 75.
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