John Lever, drummer for Manchester post-punk group the Chameleons, has died. Chameleons co-founder Mark Burgess announced on his Facebook that Lever “died this morning following a short period of illness.” He continued, “We want to offer our sincere and deepest sympathy to John’s mother, his sister and his two children at this terrible time. Obviously I’m shocked at the news and consequently I’ll be offline for a while.”

Lever joined the Chameleons shortly after they formed in 1981. He played on the band’s first three albums before they broke up. Before they reformed at the turn of the century, Lever performed with Burgess in the spinoff group the Sun and the Moon. After another breakup in 2003, he had a brief stint playing the original band’s catalog with Burgess in ChameleonsVox. Most recently, Lever had been performing in the Red-Sided Garter Snakes with Chameleons guitarist Dave Fielding.