Teenage Head guitarist Gord Lewis has died, band says

One of the founding members of Canadian punk rock band Teenage Head has died.

The Hamilton, Ont. band confirmed the death of Gord Lewis, who was the founding guitarist of the band, in a social media post Monday evening.

"We are heartbroken and still trying to process the loss of our friend, bandmate and brother Gord Lewis," the band wrote. "Our hearts are with his family and all that knew and loved him."

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"Gord was a force and an inspiration to many. You were taken from us far too soon."

It's not yet known how the 65 year old died.

Tributes began to pour in shortly after news of Lewis' death became public.

Andrea Horwath, candidate for Hamilton mayor, said on Twitter she was heartbroken to hear of Lewis' death.

"He's been an inspiration to so many," she said of the band, which hails from her hometown.

There were hundreds of comments on the band’s Instagram post offering their condolences as of Tuesday morning.

"A gigantic loss to the Canadian musical landscape, and an even bigger one to the Hamilton punk scene," one person said.

While Teenage Head became popular in the 1980s, they still perform now and had an upcoming show scheduled later this month in Winnipeg.