The DJ and producer helped bring techno to a global audience through Cybotron, Model 500 and the Belleville Three.
By Mitchell Peters
Juan Atkins, widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of techno music and a co-founder of the influential electronic group Cybotron, has died. He was 64.
Atkins’ agency, Greensmith Artists, announced his death Sunday (Nov. 1) on Instagram.
“His family is currently dealing with extremely difficult circumstances, and we kindly ask that their privacy be respected during this time,” Greensmith Artists founder Dragan Greensmith tells Billboard.
No cause of death has been reported.
Born in Detroit in 1962 and raised in nearby Belleville, Michigan, Atkins met fellow students Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, with whom he would become part of the Belleville Three. Widely credited as architects of Detroit techno, the trio helped establish the Motor City as a global center for electronic music in the 1980s.
In 1980, Atkins joined forces with fellow producer Rik Davis to form the electronic music group Cybotron. The duo released their influential debut album, Enter, in 1983, featuring the seminal track “Clear,” which reached No. 52 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs on Oct. 8, 1983. A meticulously crafted yet wildly inventive techno track influenced by Afrika Bambaataa and Kraftwerk, “Clear” ranked No. 77 on Billboard‘s list of the 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time. (It was also sampled on Missy Elliott’s Timbaland-produced “Lose Control” in 2005.)
Following Cybotron’s breakup in 1985, Atkins launched his own label, Metroplex, in 1985 and began releasing music as Model 500. His first single under the name, “No UFO’s,” hit No. 36 on the Dance Singles Sales chart and helped bring Detroit’s developing techno sound to the U.K., laying the groundwork for the 1988 compilation Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit, which featured Atkins’ track “Techno Music.”
In the decades that followed, Atkins continued releasing music under aliases such as Infiniti and Audio Tech, as well as his own name. He also teamed up with German producer Moritz von Oswald as Borderland and reunited with May and Saunderson as the Belleville Three, performing together around the world throughout the 2010s.
“Heartbreaking news today. My brother Juan Atkins has passed away,” Saunderson wrote on his Instagram Story Sunday. “Juan was the originator of Techno, a true visionary who opened the door for so many of us, myself included. I’ll never forget how he showed me how to finish my first record, Triangle of Love. That meant a lot to me then, and it still does today.”
He continued, “We shared a journey that changed music forever, and I’ll always be grateful for his friendship, guidance and everything he gave to our scene.”
