Frogs Founder and Former Smashing Pumpkins Member Dennis Flemion Missing, Presumed Dead
Dennis Flemion, a founding member of pioneering alternative rock band the Frogs, is missing and presumed dead after a boating mishap.
Flemion was reportedly visiting Wisconsin’s Wind Lake with family and friends over the weekend when he decided to go for a swim and never returned. A police search has failed to turn up his body, although a combination of poor visibility and deep water are said to have complicated workers’ efforts.
After co-founding the Frogs with his brother Jimmy in 1980, Flemion embarked on one of the more idiosyncratic recording careers of the ’80s and ’90s, releasing a series of little-heard but highly influential albums such as 1989′s ‘It’s Only Right and Natural’ and 1996′s ‘My Daughter the Broad.’ Their music caught the attention of a number of better-known artists, including Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder, and Billy Corgan, who joined the band regularly during its Lollapalooza stint in 1994.
Corgan, who produced the Frogs’ ‘Starjob’ EP, went on to invite the Flemion brothers to join Smashing Pumpkins in the late ’90s, with Dennis filling in on keyboards following the death of Jonathan Melvoin in 1996.
In more recent years, the band seemed to be re-emerging from a long period of studio silence, announcing plans to release a pair of new albums (‘Squirrel Bunny Jupiter Deluxe’ and ‘Count Yer Blessingsz’) later this year. In the wake of Flemion’s apparent death, the Frogs Wikipedia page states that “it remains unclear how this will affect the future of the band.”
Watch Dennis Flemion Perform ‘Lullaby’