Person · Male

Dave Riley

bassist in Big Black and engineer

From: Detroit, United States
Active: 1960–2019
Releases: 1

About

David Michael Riley (July 30, 1960 – December 24, 2019) was an American musician who was the bassist in the punk rock band Big Black from 1985 until the band's dissolution in 1987. Riley moved to Chicago in 1982 from Detroit, where he had worked as a recording engineer. He played on Big Black's two studio albums, Atomizer (1986) and Songs About Fucking (1987), as well as their Headache EP (1987), several singles, and two live albums.

After Big Black, Riley recorded tracks with several other artists before being incapacitated by a stroke in 1993, losing the ability to walk. He became a blogger, and published a book in 2006 titled Blurry and Disconnected: Tales of Sink-or-Swim Nihilism. He died in late 2019 from squamous cell carcinoma.

From Dave Riley on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Member of

Big Black 1985–1987 background vocals, bass guitar

Discography

Albums 1

Hush Your Fuss! 2013

Links

Reference

Also known as

David Michael Riley

Identifiers

MusicBrainz: c29ae450-90ca-4593-8892-1fd5e47e507a
ISNI: 0000000406823454
IPI: 00439496217

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 12 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.