Juan Atkins, Detroit techno pioneer, dies aged 64 in Mexico City

Juan Atkins, one of the founders of Detroit techno, has died aged 64 in Mexico City. His agency, Greensmith Artists, confirmed the news on Sunday 1 November. Atkins, who formed the trio known as the Belleville Three with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, was still touring clubs and festivals four decades after his first records.

What happened: Juan Atkins dies in Mexico City

According to information released by his agency and reported by outlets such as DJ Mag and Complex, Atkins was found unconscious in his hotel room on the night of Saturday 31 October, ahead of the set he was due to play at YuYu Cine Club in the Mexican capital. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The cause has not been officially announced. Some international media have published unconfirmed accounts of what happened; ModoFestival is sticking to the facts confirmed by those close to him.

From Cybotron to Model 500: why Juan Atkins is one of the fathers of techno

Born in Detroit in 1962, Atkins met Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson at high school in Belleville (Michigan). In the early eighties he founded Cybotron with Rik Davis: their first single, ‘Alleys of Your Mind’, came out in 1981, and in 1984 the group released ‘Techno City’, one of the first titles to use the word that would eventually give the genre its name. The reference came from the books of futurologist Alvin Toffler, who wrote about ‘techno rebels’.

In 1985, now solo and under the name Model 500, he released ‘No UFO's’, the first release on his label Metroplex. That record is one of the starting points of Detroit techno, the scene that May and Saunderson later took around the world. His first album as Model 500, Deep Space, arrived in 1995, and with German producer Moritz von Oswald he made two records as Borderland, in 2013 and 2016. In 2023 he revived Cybotron with the EP Maintain The Golden Ratio, released by Berlin label Tresor.

Juan Atkins and festivals: from Primavera Sound to Movement

Despite its foundational role, Cybotron did not play its first live concert until 2019, at the Barbican in London. That same tour took it to European festivals such as Dekmantel and Primavera Sound, where it performed on the Lotus stage at Parc del Fòrum, according to the line-up reported at the time by betevé.

In Detroit, Model 500 performed at the city's electronic music festival in 2007, and Cybotron played its home city for the first time in 2023, at Movement, as German magazine Groove recalls. The techno he helped to name now fills much of the line-ups at electronic music festivals in Spain, from Sónar to Monegros Desert Festival.

Reactions: Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May pay tribute to Juan Atkins

Kevin Saunderson has paid tribute to him on social media as ‘the creator of techno’, a visionary who opened the door for many artists, himself included, and recalled that Atkins helped him finish his first record. Derrick May, according to Groove, stressed that he never complained or talked about how ill he was, and called for his legacy and achievements to be recognised.

No tributes have been announced at Spanish festivals so far. If any festival schedules one at an upcoming edition, we will report it on ModoFestival.

Sources: Greensmith Artists statement of 1 November 2026 reported by DJ Mag, Complex and Hispasonic; Groove (2 November 2026); betevé (Primavera Sound 2019 line-up); Qobuz and FACT (Cybotron's 2019 tour); 909originals (Cybotron EP on Tresor, 2023).