Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro dead at 63

LOS ANGELES — Punk drummer D.H. Peligro, of Dead Kennedys and Red Hot Chili Peppers fame, died Friday from suspected head trauma after an accidental fall at his Los Angeles home, according to police.

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“Dead Kennedys’ drummer D.H. Peligro (Darren Henley) passed away in his Los Angeles home yesterday, Oct 28th,” the band tweeted Saturday.

Peligro, 63, hailed originally from St. Louis, and played intermittently for the San Francisco-based Dead Kennedys for more than two decades, Deadline reported.

According to The Orange County Register, Peligro was living out of a van when he met Dead Kennedys front man Jello Biafra, and East Bay Ray, the band’s guitarist, in the early 1980s.

As per the newspaper, when original drummer Bruce “Ted” Slesinger left the band in 1981, Peligro was one of more than a dozen drummers to audition, and he kept the gig until the band parted ways five years later.

Immediately following the band’s December 1986 demise, Peligro served a short stint with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, replacing Jack Irons, during which he helped pen some of the songs on 1989′s “Mother’s Milk,” but he did not perform on the album, the Register reported.

Guitarist East Bay Ray, who performed with Peligro, posted on Facebook following the death. “I am heartbroken … We were musical brothers.”

According to Deadline, Peligro also released three solo albums over the years, the most notable of which was “Sum of Our Surroundings,” which was voted Rock Album of the Year by the American Independent Music Awards in 2004.

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