Severed Heads’ Stephen Jones has died aged 75 following an alleged assault outside his Sydney studio.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Jones was allegedly attacked outside his studio in Alexandria on Tuesday, October 6th. He died two days later at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, surrounded by family and friends. His death was confirmed in a statement shared on his Facebook page on Friday, October 9th.
“Stephen was viciously assaulted outside his studio on Tuesday,” the statement read. “After loving visits from friends over the course of the day, Stephen died peacefully on Thursday afternoon.
“Stephen left this world with brother Ian and partner Wendy holding his hands. He was surrounded by friends.”
According to the family, a suspect has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection with the incident. The accused appeared in court on Thursday and was being held without bail. The family has urged the public to avoid speculation while investigations continue.
“We ask that people respect the ongoing investigation, chain of evidence, and refrain from speculation and sharing unverified information. This is an ongoing investigation, and we want justice for Stephen,” the statement continued.
“The family is working with police and are unable to supply any further details to you at this time. We ask for privacy during this difficult experience.”
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Jones was a pioneering figure in Australia’s experimental electronic music and video art scenes, best known for his decade-long involvement with Severed Heads. Joining the Sydney group in 1982, he worked alongside founding member Tom Ellard, helping develop the band’s distinctive audiovisual identity through his work with analogue video synthesisers.
During his time with the group, Severed Heads released a string of influential records, including City Slab Horror (1985), and became known for tracks such as “Dead Eyes Opened”, “Greater Reward” and “All Saints Day”.
His contributions extended beyond music. An accomplished video artist, engineer, writer and curator, he developed custom-built technology that allowed electronic visuals to become an integral part of Severed Heads’ live performances.
Following his departure from the band in 1992, Jones continued working across electronic art, video production and archival preservation. He also received a New Media Arts Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts and published Synthetics: Aspects of Art and Technology in Australia, 1956–1975 in 2011.
Tributes have since poured in from across Australia’s arts community, with friends and collaborators remembering his pioneering contributions to electronic music and visual art.
Artist Ralph Kerle paid tribute to Jones’ legacy, writing: “I want to remember Stephen not through the violence of his final days, but through the extraordinary life he lived and his work as one of the original pioneers in Australian video art.
“With Severed Heads, he made video an instrument of live performance and toured internationally. As an artist, engineer, writer and historian, he helped shape Australian electronic art and preserve its history.”
Photographer Juno Gemes also remembered Jones as a generous and influential figure whose contributions deserved greater recognition. “I feel he was seriously under-acknowledged for his pioneering genius by the art world in general in Australia, who often miss gentle giants before them in plain sight,” she wrote.
“His manner was always mild, gentle and generous… he was a dear friend and cherished colleague over a lifetime. Vale dear Stephen Jones.”
