On March 15, 2014, Scott Asheton died of a heart attack at the age of 64. Saxophonist Steve Mackay (who briefly joined the group in mid-1970 before participating in the post-2003 reunion and Re-Licked) also died in October 2015 at the age of 66. On June 22, 2016, Williamson issued an official statement for the band saying that The Stooges are no more: "The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody's dead except Iggy and I. So it would be sort-of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy and The Stooges when there's only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn't make any sense to me." Williamson also added that touring had become boring, and trying to balance the band's career as well as Pop's was a difficult task.
