Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins dies aged 64

Summary

Juan Atkins, the Detroit techno pioneer, died on 31 October at the age of 64. He spent his career turning a fascination with the future into music that blended funk and electronics with information-age ideas. He was the oldest of the “Belleville Three” founders of techno, along with Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May. He was the first of the trio to buy a Korg MS-10 synthesiser and taught the others to DJ. His duo Cybotron, with Rik Davis, laid the sonic blueprint for what became known as techno, and he is credited with giving the genre its name.

Timeline

1. The Guardian

   3 Nov 2026, 11:06 UTCSource ↗

   The Guardian reports that Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins, who died aged 64 on 31 October, blended funk and electronics with information-age philosophy, was a founding member of the Belleville Three with Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, and, with Rik Davis in Cybotron, set the sonic blueprint for techno.