Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson Have Died

[miliosr]

In case you missed the news, Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson, two of the founding members of the rock band Jefferson Airplane, died on the same day in January -- the 28th. They were both born in 1941 and would have been 75 this year.

Anderson appeared on the Airplane's debut, Takes Off, before she left the band in October 1966 due to her pregnancy. The band replaced her with the redoubtable Grace Slick and, from that moment forward, the classic Jefferson Airplane line-up of Slick, Kantner, singer Marty Balin, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, bassist Jack Casady and drummer Spencer Dryden was set.

When the Airplane ground to a halt in 1972, Slick and Kantner, who were involved romantically, regrouped as Jefferson Starship and they were soon joined by Balin. Jefferson Starship was enormously successful from the mid-70s to the early-80s and had a whole string of top 40 hits. Kanter would remain with Jefferson Starship until the early-80s when he quit the band as it morphed into its final incarnation as Starship.

[sandik]

I've been feeling sad about this since I heard the news -- they were a part of my adolescent life.