According to press reports this morning, Hans Rudolf (H.R.) Giger died in Zurich, Switzerland yesterday from injuries suffered in a fall. He was 74 years old.
He is of course best known to most of the world as the creator of the creature in Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie Alien, for which Giger won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, but his work is also well known in the community of metal and rock because it has adorned the cover of some compelling albums.
Perhaps Giger himself put his finger on what has made him so beloved among metal heads (this, from a 1979 interview):
“My paintings seem to make the strongest impression on people who are, well, who are crazy. A good many people think as I do. If they like my work they are creative… or they are crazy.”