D. BOON Biography - Musicians

 
 

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D. BOON

Name: Dennes Dale Boon                                                           
Born: 1 April 1958 Napa, California, USA                                         
Died: 22 December 1985 Tucson, Arizona, USA                                     
                                                                                 
D. Boon (born Dennes Dale Boon, April 1, 1958 - December 22, 1985) was an       
American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Active between 1979, when he joined   
The Reactionaries, and 1985, when he was killed in a van accident, Boon was best 
known as the guitarist and vocalist of the Californian punk rock trio Minutemen. 
                                                                                 
Dennes Boon was born in Napa, California on April 1, 1958. Boon's father, a navy 
veteran, worked putting radios into Buick cars, and the Boons lived in former   
World War II barracks that been converted into public housing. As a teenager,   
Boon began painting and signed his works "D. Boon", partly because "D" was his   
slang for cannabis, partly after Daniel Boone, but mostly because it was similar 
to E. Bloom, Blue Öyster Cult's vocalist and guitarist.                         
                                                                                 
Boon formed the band in January 1980 with childhood friend Mike Watt on bass     
from the remnants of their previous band, The Reactionaries, later adding former 
Reactionaries drummer George Hurley, to form The Minutemen.                     
                                                                                 
Their most noted recording was Double Nickels on the Dime, which is considered   
by many to be D.Boon at his best in both songwriting and guitar playing.         
                                                                                 
The Minutemen continued until December 22, 1985, when Boon was killed in a van   
accident in Tucson, Arizona. Because he had been sick with a fever, Boon was     
lying down in the rear of the van without a seatbelt when the van ran off the   
road. Boon was thrown out the back door of the van and died instantly from a     
broken neck. He was only 27 years old. The band immediately dissolved, though   
Watt and Hurley would form the band fIREHOSE soon after. The live album Ballot   
Result was released in 1987 , two years after Boon's death.