Van Conner, co-founder and bassist of Screaming Trees, dies aged 55

Van Conner, bassist for the Screaming Trees, died yesterday at the age of 55. The musician's death was announced by his brother and bandmate Gary Lee Conner.

On Facebook, Gary wrote:

Van Conner bassist and song writer of Screaming Trees died last night of an extended illness at 55. It was pneumonia that got him in the end. He was one of the closest friends I ever had and I loved him immensely. I will miss him forever and ever and ever.

Van Conner's death comes within less than a year of Mark Lanegan's death.

Van and Gary formed Screaming Trees with Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel in 1984 in Ellensburg, Washington. However, it was in the early 1990s in Seattle that the group achieved success in the alternative rock scene, more precisely as one of the names of the grunge movement. The band disbanded in 2000, leaving seven studio albums, most notably Sweet Oblivion (1992), which brought the hit "Nearly Lost You".