Written by: Alex Green

J. Geils, the founder of the legendary Worcester, Mass outfit The J. Geils Band has died.

He was 71.

The cause of death at this point is unknown, but Geils reportedly died at his home in Groton, Massachusetts.

Although he was born John Geils in New York City, and grew up in New Jersey, Groton adopted the musician as one of their own and December 1, 2009 became known officially as J. Geils Day.

The J. Geils Band were one of the biggest bands of 1982, capitalizing on heavy MTV airplay for videos of the songs “Centerfold” and “Freeze Frame.”

While MTV brought the band to a global audience, the truth was they’d been around since 1967, when Geils formed the mostly acoustic blues band, recruiting Peter Wolf, Danny Klein, “Magic Dick” Salwitz and Stephen Jo Bladd to join him.

A little known fact is the band’s 1972 song “Cry One More Time” was covered by Gram Parsons and included on his debut record.

While their twelfth album Freeze Frame (which went to #1) employed some of the popular tropes of New Wave, up to that point, the band had primarily been an R&B/Blues act.

The J. Geils Band are a two-time nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.