Van Conner, the musician best known for being the bassist of the rock band Screaming Trees, died aged 55 on Tuesday. His brother and former bandmate at Screaming Trees, Garry Lee Conner, wrote a Facebook post on Wednesday announcing his death.  

“Van Conner bassist and songwriter of Screaming Trees died last night of an extended illness at 55,” Lee Conner said, adding, “It was pneumonia that got him in the end. He was one of the closest friends I ever had and I loved him immensely. I will miss him forever and ever and ever.”

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Conner was born on March 17, 1967, in Apple Valley, California. He created grunge, psychedelic rock, and alternative rock music. Along with being the regular bassist for Screaming Trees, Conner also occasionally played lead guitar.

When he was in high school, Conner formed Explosive Generation – a rock band, with Garry Lee Conner and Mark Pickerel.

That band would later go on to become Screaming Trees in 1985.

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The Screaming Trees lasted for about a decade and a half and in the said period Conner and the Trees released two studio albums. The band was eventually disbanded in 2000. 

While Conner was still in Screaming Trees, was associated with a ‘side project’ that went by the name Solomon Grundy. Along with playing lead guitar, Conner also gave voice to their songs. 

Since the breakup of Screaming Trees, Conner mostly worked as a sessions musician and helped in the formation of alternative rock bands such as VALIS and Musk Ox. He was able to release as many as four albums with VALIS. 

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Other details about Conner’s family are not known. It is also not clear if the former bassist was dating someone. He was in most likelihood also not a married person. 

According to publicly available sources, Conner had a net worth of around $5 million at the time of his death.