Juan Atkins, the Detroit techno pioneer behind Missy Elliott's Lose Control sample, dies at 64
Juan Atkins, who co-founded Cybotron and is widely credited as the originator of Detroit techno, has died at 64, his agency Greensmith Artists announced on November 1, 2026. His 1983 Cybotron record "Clear" is sampled in Missy Elliott's 2005 hit Lose Control, which lists Atkins and Rick Davis among its writers.
By Riffiter
Juan Atkins, the Detroit producer most often credited with starting techno, has died at 64. His agency, Greensmith Artists, announced his death on Sunday, November 1, and Resident Advisor, Billboard, Rolling Stone and NBC News all reported it. Reports differ on whether he died on October 31 or November 1. He was in Mexico City to play a show.
Plenty of people have heard his music without knowing his name. Missy Elliott's Lose Control samples "Clear", a record Atkins made in 1983 with Rick Davis as Cybotron, and both men are on the song's writing credits.
Two guys from Detroit
Atkins and Davis started Cybotron in Detroit in 1980. "Clear" came out in 1983 as a 12-inch on Fantasy Records, the third single from their album Enter. The label credits the song to "3070-Juan Atkins", 3070 being Davis's alias, and the US 12-inch carries a remix by Jose "Animal" Diaz. Wikipedia, citing The Wire, puts its sales at 50,000 copies or more.
Atkins described the vocals to Spin in 2013 as slap-back delay "with a comb". In the same piece he tied the sound to his city: "Detroit was one of the first cities to see how the technology affected the lives of working people."
From Cybotron to Lose Control
Twenty-two years later, Missy Elliott built Lose Control on a loop from "Clear". The single came out in May 2005 as the lead from The Cookbook, reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the 2006 Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. The song also samples Hot Streak's "Body Work". The writing credits list Missy Elliott, Ciara, Fatman Scoop, Curtis Hudson, Juan Atkins and Richard Davis.
"Lose Control" is not the only hit built on "Clear". T.I. used it on "Lay Me Down" in 2010, per Mixmag.
The Belleville Three
Atkins met Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson as teenagers in Belleville, Michigan, and the three became known as the Belleville Three. After Cybotron he recorded as Model 500, starting with "No UFO's" in 1985 on his own label, Metroplex.
Saunderson wrote after the news: "Juan was the originator of Techno, a true visionary who opened the door for so many of us, myself included." Richie Hawtin put it in six words: "Juan imagined Techno before any of us."