The Replacements guitarist Bob ‘Slim’ Dunlap has died aged 73.
The musician – who was the final guitarist for the legendary punk band – passed away on Wednesday (18.12.24) afternoon 12 years after suffering a stroke which left him bedridden and unable to play guitar.
His family told The Minnesota Star Tribute newspaper: “Bob passed at home today at 12:48 p.m. surrounded by family.
“We played him his Live at the Turf Club (Thank You Dancers!) CD, and he left us shortly after listening to his version of ‘Hillbilly Heaven’ — quite poignant.
“It was a natural decline over the past week. Overall it was due to complications from his stroke.”
Dunlap starting playing guitar as a youngster and performed locally with Curtiss A (Curt Almsted) in the 1970s, before the pair started the band Spooks.
The group caught the eye of Replacements’ Paul Westerberg, who was looking for a replacement for founding guitarist Bob Stinson.
Dunlap declined the offer initially, but he was tempted by his own admiration for Westerberg as a songwriter.
He took on the name ‘Slim’ to avoid being confused with Stinson, and he was known as “the replacement Replacement” by fans.
He joined in 1987 and played on both the ‘Don’t Tell A Soul’ and ‘All Shook Down’ albums, remaining with the band until they split in 1991.
He then embarked on his own solo career, releasing his first record ‘The Old New Me’ in 1993, and ‘Times Like This’ three years later.
He kept performing locally until a stroke ended his music career.
In 2013, The Replacements, Steve Earle, Jeff Tweedy, The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn and others played on a tribute compilation ‘Songs For Slim’ to help raise funds to aid his recovery.
In 2020, ‘Thank You, Dancers’ – a 2002 live performance – was dropped, marking Dunlap’s final release.