Michael Been, of band The Call, dies of massive heart attack at Belgian festival

Michael Benn, a vocalist and guitarist for 1980s band The Call, died of a massive heart attack at a music festival in Belgium yesterday.

News first hit the internet on a message board for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, a band with which Been had been working as a sound engineer and in which his son Robert Levon Been played bass:

Salvator hospital in Hasselt has just notified us of the death of Michael Been, sound technician and father of bassplayer Robert Levon Been of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

He was taken ill in the backstage area. First aid was immediately administrated and the Red Cross and medical urgence teams were immediately at the scene. He was reanimated all the way to the Salvator hospital in Hasselt. Victim aid is at the moment standing by members of the band and their crew. Michael Been became 60 years old.

Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, their family and friends.

Chokri Mahassine,
organisator of Pukkelpop, Belgium

The Call, who counted Bono and Peter Gabriel as fans, had several hits in the 80s, including “The Walls Came Down” and ” Let the Day Begin.”

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