Guitarist and songwriter of pop band, Milk ‘N’ Cookies Ian North has passed away Sunday evening. He was 68. His wife confirmed his passing to Paul Zone, a member of the band The Fast, and he later took to Twitter with the news. “It’s with great sadness I share the news that Ian North (Milk ‘n Cookies) died this morning. I have been on the phone with Ian’s wife all week, he had a heart attack last Saturday.”

It’s with great sadness I share the news that Ian North (Milk ‘n Cookies) died this morning. I have been on the phone with Ian’s wife all week, he had a heart attack last Saturday.
Photo by Paul Zone
(in Paul’s teenage bedroom, Brooklyn 1973) pic.twitter.com/dzfgoQi8RG

— Paul Zone (@PaulZoneNYC) February 28, 2021

Milk ‘N’ Cookies started their musical career in 1973 out of Woodmere, Long Island. They released one self-titled LP in 1976 and later re-released the project in 2016 as a box set by Captured Tracks.

North formed the band comprised of himself, Justin Strauss, Michael Ruiz and Sal Maida. When the band broke up, Strauss began pursuing electronic music and became a DJ, Ruiz joined the American rock band Paul Collins’ Beat and Maida also joined the band, Sparks.

After receiving the news about his former bandmate, Strauss wrote a heartfelt message about North via Instagram. “He was the first person who believed in me. We bonded over the music we loved and would spend endless hours dreaming and scheming up our plans to be pop stars. Like me, Ian lived for it 24/7. It was all he wanted, to be respected as a great songwriter in the coolest band. He wrote all the songs in Milk n’ Cookies and they are timeless perfect pop masterpieces.”

North took his career solo in 1979 and dropped two projects, Neo (1979) and My Girlfriend’s Dead (1980). Aside from writing for and working with his own band and working on his solo projects, North also produced a number of records for The Fast.