Rob Tyner

Robert W. Derminer (December 12, 1944 – September 17, 1991), known as Rob Tyner, was an American musician best known as the lead singer for the Detroit proto-punk band MC5. His adopted surname was in tribute to the jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. It was Tyner who issued the rallying cry of "kick out the jams, motherfuckers" at the MC5's live concerts. Tyner had originally auditioned as the bass player, but the band felt his talents would be best used as the lead vocalist.

He is considered by some to be one of the greatest punk rock vocalists of all time.

Rob Tyner was born on December 12, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. He was baptized and raised in the Episcopal Church, but often sought ways to incorporate the spirituality from his Native American heritage into the Christian faith of his birth.

Tyner joined the group that was to become MC5 in 1964. He auditioned to be the band's bassist, but soon became its lead vocalist.

MC5 earned national attention with their first album, Kick Out the Jams, recorded live on October 30 and 31, 1968, at Detroit's Grande Ballroom. Critic Mark Deming writes that Kick out the Jams is:

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.