Rob Tyner; Lead Vocalist for Former Rock Group MC5

Rob Tyner, 46, lead vocalist for the seminal rock group MC5. Tyner, whose legal name was Robert Derminer, was the lead singer of the group that critics called a precursor of punk and heavy metal. The Detroit-based band--originally called the Motor City Five--played during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago to raise money for the revolutionary White Panther Party. MC5’s biggest hit was “Kick Out the Jams,” from their first album in 1969. Many record stores initially refused to stock the album because of its profane lyrics. It got radio airplay and reached the Top 40 in nationwide sales after the title song was altered. The band--whose members were arrested often on various charges, including obscenity--dissolved in the early 1970s. In Detroit on Wednesday after a heart attack.