Modest Mouse closed 2022 on the most somber of notes. The band confirmed across social media on Saturday night, December 31, that co-founder and drummer Jeremiah Green has died. He was 45 years old. The news comes just four days after it was publicly revealed that Green was battling stage 4 cancer.
“I don’t know a way to ease into this: Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah. He laid down to rest and simply faded out,” reads the caption of Saturday’s Instagram post. “I’d like to say a bunch of pretty words right now, but it just isn’t the time. These will come later, and from many people. Please appreciate all the love you give, get, have given, and will get. Above all, Jeremiah was about love. We love you.”
Last week, Carol Namatame, Green’s mother, wrote on her Facebook, “Please send healing vibes for my son, Jeremiah Green, who is battling stage 4 cancer. He’s is so strong and so brave and hanging in there!” By December 28, Modest Mouse lead vocalist Isaac Brock addressed Green’s cancer diagnosis on the band’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.
“Hi. Some of you may have already heard, but I figured it would be good to hear the news directly from our camp. Jeremiah was diagnosed with cancer a short while ago, and he’s currently in treatment,” Brock wrote. “It seems to be going smoothly and making a positive difference. Jeremiah, as am I, are believers in the power of positive energy, so if you would be so kind as to send ‘good vibes’ (to quote Jeremiah) in the direction of Jeremiah and his family, that’d be great. Thank you and love, Isaac Brock.”
Brock and Green co-founded Modest Mouse in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, outside of Seattle. Bassist Eric Judy soon joined the group, and they relocated to Portland, Oregon. Modest Mouse released The Golden Casket, their seventh studio album, in June 2021 and embarked on a North American tour to close out 2022 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Lonesome Crowded West.
