Juan Atkins, pioneer of Detroit techno, dies aged 64
Juan Atkins, the American electronic music producer widely regarded as one of the founders of Detroit techno, has died at 64. He was found unresponsive in a hotel room in Mexico City before a scheduled performance.
Juan Atkins, the American electronic music producer and DJ who was one of the pioneers of Detroit techno, has died aged 64. His agency, Greensmith Artists, confirmed the news to the dance music website Resident Advisor. According to the agency, Atkins was found unresponsive in a hotel room in Mexico City ahead of a planned performance, and was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital. His influence on dance music is considered enormous.
How the techno sound emerged
Atkins was born in Detroit in 1962 and later moved with his family to Belleville, a rural suburb in Michigan. At school he met Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, and the three became known as the Belleville Three. While still in high school, using increasingly affordable equipment such as the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the Korg MS-10 synthesiser, he formed the duo Cybotron with Richard Davis. Atkins said he applied ideas from a school class called future studies, which dealt with the shift from an industrial to a technological society, to his music.
Inspired by both Kraftwerk and Jimi Hendrix, the duo recorded tracks such as Cosmic Cars and Clear. Atkins was the first person to use the term "techno" for this hard electronic style. The duo split in 1985, with Davis leaning towards rock music.
Solo career and legacy
Atkins went solo as Model 500, creating tracks including No UFO's and The Chase. In 1985 he founded the record label Metroplex, which also released work by Anthony Shakir and DJ Bone. He later launched the project Infiniti, and with Moritz Von Oswald formed the duo Borderland, which released two albums in 2013 and 2016. In 2023 Atkins reformed Cybotron, releasing new music and performing live.
His influence reached well beyond techno: dozens of artists have sampled Clear alone. Missy Elliott built her song Lose Control around it, and it reached No 3 on the US Billboard chart in 2005. Saunderson paid tribute to Atkins as "a true visionary who opened the door for so many of us, myself included".
