Erick Lee Purkhiser, better known as Lux Interior, a founding member of the garage / punk band The Cramps, died early Wednesday morning in Glendale, Calif. According to his publicist, Purkhiser, who was 60, died of a pre-existing heart condition.

Purkhiser, who grew up near Akron, Ohio, met his wife, Kristy Wallace, better known as Poison Ivy, in California in the early 1970s and moved in 1975 to New York, where they became fixtures on the thriving punk scene.

Purkhiser took his stage name from a car commercial. Many fans described the Cramps' music as "psychobilly," and the group inspired many musicians including Black Lips, Flat Duo Jets, Reverend Horton Heat, My Bloody Valentine and others.