Alan Vega, one half of punk duo Suicide, has died at the age of 78.

You might not have heard of the American duo but Suicide’s creation of synthesiser rock has been credited as an inspiration to a number of the world’s most famous bands and music groups, including Radiohead, Pet Shop Boys and REM.

Born Boruch Alan Bermowitz in Brooklyn in 1938, Vega met his musical partner, Martin Reverby, in 1971. The two went on to release five studio albums and six live albums together.

In an interview with the JC, Vega controversially likened performances by Suicide to the Holocaust, saying: “When the Jews were shipped off to the concentration camps, to Dachau, Auschwitz or Treblinka, they would arrive and there would be a beautiful station and they looked like quite nice places. But then they'd walk past the nicely painted walls through a door right into hell. And that's exactly what Marty and I were doing with Suicide: we were giving them Treblinka.”

For years Vega told journalists that his mother was Catholic, but he later admitted that “he made that up to fuel the myth.”

However he said that he’d “never stop feeling Jewish, no matter how much I might talk my way out of it.

“I'm very proud to be part of this tradition. It's brought me a lot of knowledge."

While a cause of death has not been revealed, a statement released by his family said that Vega died in his sleep on Saturday.

The statement said: “With profound sadness and a stillness that only news like this can bring, we regret to inform you that the great artist and creative force, Alan Vega has passed away.

“Alan passed peacefully in his sleep last night, July 16.”