NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — James Chance, a singer, saxophonist, and composer, best known for his work with the progressive metal band The Contortions, died on Tuesday at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in New York. He was 71.
His death was announced by his brother, David Siegfried, who did not specify a cause of death but noted that Chance was in poor health for several years.
Born as James Alan Siegfried in Milwaukee in 1953, Chance began playing piano while still in elementary school, graduating to the sax while he was in his teens.
He attended Michigan State University and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee but left before he earned a degree from either institution.
While still in school, he launched jazz-oriented James Siegfried Quintet and the punk band Death before relocating to New York in 1975, taking on the stage name James Chance.
In New York, he launched the band Flaming Youth before joining Teenage Jesus and the Jerks with guitarist Lydia Lunch, early progenitors of New York’s avant-garde No Wave movement of the 1970s.
In 1977, Chance launched Contortions, later James Chance & The Contortions with guitarists Jody Harris and Pat Place, bassist George Scott III (deceased), drummer Don Christiansen, and keyboards player/vocalist Adele Bertei.
The band became central figures in New York’s nascent No Wave scene and were featured on producer Brian Eno’s influential No New York compilation album alongside the bands Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Mars, and D.N.A.
The Contortions signed with ZE Records in 1978 and released their debut album Buy the following year, capturing the gestalt of New York’s avant-garde music scene of the era.
However, the group was unstable and went through multiple lineup changes before transforming into James White and the Blacks, which itself went through multiple lineup changes.
In 2001, Chance reunited the members of the original band for a brief tour that included a performance at the All Tomorrow’s Parties music festival.
Along with his work with Contortions, Chance also recorded with Blondie and the Chicago band Watchers, the Portland-based, Ancient Heat and the Happenings with his brother David, among others.
In 2016, Dylan Greenberg, who was just 19 at the time, directed James Chance in the music video for a re-recorded version of Melt Yourself Down, marking Chance’s first release of music in almost a decade.
He made what is believed to be his final live performance in 2019, according to an obituary shared on his website.
James was preceded in death by his father, Donald Siegfried, in 2019; by his romantic and artistic partner Anya Phillips in 1979, and by his longtime life partner Judy Taylor (Bozanich) in 2020.
Funeral services are private, with details of a memorial to be announced at a later date.
