Aww, dammit, this just sucks. Iggy Pop and the Stooges have been awaiting their fate as part of the list of nine nominees, including Run-D.M.C. (yay!) and Metallica (boo!) for 2009 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Voting is currently process to determine which of the nominees will be inducted, and, any day now, a press release will announce which five acts will be honoured in Cleveland. Unfortunately, founding Stooges member Ron Asheton was found earlier this week in his Ann Arbor home, dead from a presumed heart attack:

Stooges singer Iggy Pop said, “I am in shock. He was my best friend.”

A joint statement released by the Stooges called Asheton “irreplaceable. He was a great friend, brother, musician, trouper. He will be missed. For all that knew him behind the facade of Mr. Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not. As a musician, Ron was the Guitar God, idol to follow and inspire others. That is how he will be remembered by people who had a great pleasure to work with him, learn from him and share good and bad times with him.”

Vocalist Iggy Pop (born James Osterberg), guitarist Asheton, drummer (and Ron’s little brother) Scott Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander formed in Ann Arbor in 1967. The band’s raw sound helped lay the template for what would later become punk rock and influenced several generations of do-it-yourself bands.

Despite the fact his playing was often seen as rudimentary, Rolling Stone named Asheton the No. 29 guitarist of all-time in its 2003 list of the 100 best guitar players ever. “Asheton was the Detroit punk who made the Stooges’ music reek like a puddle of week-old biker sweat,” the magazine wrote. “He favored black leather and German iron crosses onstage, and he never let not really knowing how to play get in the way of a big, ugly feedback solo.”

Regardless of this sad news, I do hope the Stooges are inducted this year. Last year’s crew was rather mixed between the deserving (whose awe-inspiring technique is both beautiful and Byronic) and the not-so deserving (who doesn’t even write most of her own songs). Hell, I’m still convinced that the latter made her way in via a sizable donation.