Mick Karn, the former bass player of pop band Japan, has died at the age of 52 after suffering from cancer.

A statement on Karn's website said the musician "passed away peacefully" on Tuesday at his London home in Chelsea, "surrounded by his family and friends".

Japan came to prominence in the early 1980s with hit albums that included Tin Drum and Gentlemen Take Polaroids.

John Taylor of Duran Duran said he was "one of the great visual and sound stylists of the late-70s/early-80s."

An appeal was launched last year when news of Karn's illness was announced.

Porcupine Tree - a band featuring former Japan keyboardist Richard Barbieri - were among those who donated profits from auctions and album sales.

Born Adonis Michaelides in Cyprus in 1958, Karn emigrated to London when he was three years old.

His official biography tells how he bought his first bass guitar for £5 after a bassoon he played in an orchestra was stolen.

He formed Japan in 1974 with David Sylvian and the latter's younger brother Steve Jansen, performing for the first time when Karn was 15.

Having been joined by Richard Barbieri, another school friend, Japan landed their first record contract in 1977.

With their dyed hair and make-up, Japan offered a "glam" alternative to punk and later became associated with the New Romantic movement.

After Japan split in 1982, Karn continued to work on solo projects and recorded with Kate Bush, Gary Numan, Midge Ure and Joan Armatrading.

Karn briefly reunited with other members of Japan in 1991 for the one-off project Rain Tree Crow.

Tributes have been left on Karn's website, with one fan saluting his dexterity with the bass.

"No one will ever touch him on the fretless," wrote 'ngriff' on Wednesday. "He shaped the way that instrument is played like no other."

BBC presenter Jeremy Vine has also remembered the musician's "sensual and stylish" playing.

R.I.P. Mick Karn.

Japan really set the stage for the New Wave look that got popular in the 1980s.  Glam without the sleaze.  Oddly, I was never a big fan of their music, but I respect their place in the scene of music that I liked as a kid.

:\'(

Japan sadly went completely unknown in America (No hit singles or albums there), but they did find a small fan base here in Canada.  Mick Karn was a talented musician and certainly left a great mark in the music industry.  R.I.P.


A Japan Discography for the UK and Canada ...

ALBUMS
1978 - Adolescent Sex
1978 - Obscure Alternatives
1980 - Quiet Life  
1981 - Gentlemen Take Polaroids
1981 - Assemblage
1981 - Tin Drum
1983 - Oil on Canvas
1984 - Exorcising Ghosts
1991 - Rain Tree Crow *


SINGLES
1978 - Don't Rain on My Parade
1978 - Adolescent Sex
1978 - The Unconventional
1978 - Sometimes I Feel So Low
1979 - Deviation
1979 - Life in Tokyo
1980 - Gentlemen Take Polaroids
1981 - The Art of Parties
1981 - Quiet Life
1981 - Visions of China
1982 - European Son
1982 - Ghosts
1982 - Cantonese Boy
1982 - I Second That Emotion
1982 - Life in Tokyo <re-issue>
1982 - Night Porter
1983 - All Tomorrow's Parties
1983 - Canton <Live>
1991 - Blackwater *

* Founding members David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri re-formed Japan under the name Rain Tree Crow.  Despite not using the Japan name, the album and single are highly regarded as Japan's final hits.