Karl Mueller was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 musician. He was the bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 player and a founding member of the Minneapolis Alternative Rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

, Soul Asylum

Soul Asylum

Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1983.The band originally formed in 1981 under the name Loud Fast Rules, with the original line-up consisting of Dan Murphy, Dave Pirner, Karl Mueller and Pat Morley. The latter was replaced by Grant Young in...

.

In May 2004, Mueller was diagnosed with throat cancer

Esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...

, and one benefit concert was held to help him with the medical bills. In September of that year, Grant Hart

Grant Hart

Grant Hart is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-songwriter for the influential alternative rock and hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü. After the band's breakup in 1987, Hart formed the alternative rock trio Nova Mob, where he moved to vocals and guitar...

 and Bob Mould

Bob Mould

Robert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...

 of Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....

 reunited for the first time in seventeen years at the Rock for Karl benefit in Minneapolis. Paul Westerberg

Paul Westerberg

Paul Westerberg is an American musician, best known as the former lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of The Replacements, one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the 1980s. He launched a solo career after the dissolution of that band...

 also made an appearance, as did Soul Asylum - in Mueller's last public performance. In June 2005, Mueller lost his battle with cancer. His widow, Mary Beth, resides in Minneapolis.

Posthumous

In July 2006, Soul Asylum released The Silver Lining, a studio album featuring Mueller's last work.

Mueller was also pictured on the cover of the EP Clam Dip & Other Delights

Clam Dip & Other Delights

Clam Dip & Other Delights is the 1989 grab-bag EP from Minneapolis rockers Soul Asylum. The title and cover art are both parodies of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's album Whipped Cream and Other Delights. It was a humorous nod to their new record label, A&M . Bassist Karl Mueller sat in for the...

, released on April 14, 1989.

External links

• The Soul Asylum Band records are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.