Ron Asheton, the guitarist of The Stooges was found dead at his home last night.

Alongside Iggy Pop, David Alexander and his brother Scott, Ron co-wrote such classics "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "No Fun" and "1969."

At the height of the flower-power and psychedelic period of the late 1960s, Asheton pioneered an aggressive, rudimentary and stunningly loud style of playing that was the antithesis of everything popular at the time. The Stooges never achieved commercial success (their 1969 debut peaked at Number 106), but the punk acts that followed — from the New York Dolls to the Sex Pistols and the Ramones — cite them as their single biggest influence.

The Stooges are one of the nine nominees for the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, with the winners set to be officially announced later this month. This death on the eve of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony is all too reminiscent of the DC5's Mike Smith passing away last year, a month before he was to be inducted.

Update: Here's a quote from Asheton from this past summer about his chances of getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

So is covering Madonna the closest you'll get to being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or do you think you'll get the nod soon?

Well, to tell you the truth, it would be cool to be in there with all our heroes and people that got us into music. The Beatles were the ones who changed my life, the Beatles and the Stones, to make this life choice ... I know this, though. If we don't get it next year, we don't go in, we're not going in. I mean, what is it, five-time losers? I mean, if we don't make it this time ... And you know what? It won't break my heart. As everyone else says, it's not going to better your career. It'd be nice, but I'm not going to be heartbroken. And we kind of wear it as a badge of honor that we've been turned down.