Sudden Loss of Quad Cities Drummer, Teacher Greg Hipskind Mourned By Many
Friends and family of Greg Hipskind are reeling from the sudden, shocking loss of the incredibly kind, gifted, giving Rock Island man who started and led QC Rock Academy and was the longtime backbone for the rock band Wicked Liz & The Bellyswirls.
Hipskind, 49, died on Friday, Jan. 2 (from a sudden heart attack), leaving behind his wife Jenny, and their two young daughters (Leah and Emma, in 6th and 8th grades). A GoFundMe page to help the family was established Sunday, Jan. 4, and by Monday noon already raised about $16,000 of a $25,000 goal.
“On January 2nd, we lost a pillar of the Quad City music community. Greg Hipskind dedicated his life to music and mentoring and inspiring the next generation of musicians as the owner of the Quad City Rock Academy,” the GoFundMe says. “Greg was one in a million – he embodied the heart of rock ‘n’ roll and touched the lives of so many. Greg was a beloved husband, father, son, bandmate, friend, and mentor to countless students.
“The Rock Academy students and their families are so blessed to have been amongst those whose lives were impacted for the better thanks to Greg. He believed in each and every child that walked through the doors of the Rock Academy and did everything in his power to help them reach their true potential.
Jenny and Greg Hipskind and their daughters Leah and Emma.
“Greg leaves behind two beautiful girls and his incredible wife, without whose support, none of this would have been possible. As we all grieve this unimaginable loss, members of the Quad City Rock Academy family are raising funds to support Greg’s family during this heartbreaking time,” the site says.
The QC Rock Academy opened in December 2011 and has been teaching the Quad-City area to rock since day one. Located at 901 E. Kimberly Road, Davenport, its instructors are busy every week with students young and old. They boast having some of the best instructors in the area with years of experience and expertise. The academy has 12 lesson rooms filled with the top-of-the-line equipment.
On Sunday, the QC Rock Academy posted on Facebook:
“We are devastated at the unexpected passing of our founder and leader, Greg Hipskind. His influence on thousands of students who have passed through our doors is immeasurable.
“Private lessons will continue this week at each teacher’s discretion, please reach out to your individual instructor. Band classes for Wednesday evening are canceled,” the post said.
Greg Hipskind founded the QC Rock Academy (901 E. Kimberly Road, Davenport) in 2011, and last month celebrated being named the No. 1 place for music instruction in the Quad Cities by LocalsLoveUs.com, for the second straight year.
Vocalist and QCRA instructor Janette Lyle posted on Facebook Sunday:
“I don’t know where to begin. Our QCRA owner, coworker, and dear friend Greg Hipskind passed away unexpectedly this weekend and it just does not seem real. I would bet everything I have, that there isn’t a person on the planet who disliked Greg. He was everything good, to everyone. Selfishly, I’m really struggling….because we had the best talks and I absolutely loved being part of what he created and gave to the community. I cannot stop thinking about Jenny and the girls. They were his world. It’s just insanely unfair. Please pray for Greg’s family, friends, and all of our students and teachers at QCRA. This is such a horrible time. Greg touched countless lives and remained loving, humble, patient, loyal, and kind.”
Sudeshna Epping, whose two sons studied drums with Hipskind, posted:
“This feels like a gut-wrenching nightmare that can’t possibly be real? The boys are devastated by this unimaginable loss, as are we. We owe everything to Greg and his family. He had this innate ability to see the potential in kids that no one else could and provided them with the means to discover this potential and build on it, ultimately finding self-worth, meaning, and confidence. His legacy will continue to live on through the countless lives he touched and this incredible community he built – A community of dreamers and believers who lift each other up, connected by their shared love of creating music. He gave our family the life-long gift of music and every time Raunak and Kiran perform, they will be thinking of you, Greg.”
Jessica Carter responded: “I still can not believe this. I’ve never met a better person in my life than Greg. The QC music community will never be the same.”
Many, many people close to Hipskind posted on his Facebook page, including Elaine Eischeid Quinn:
“Words cannot describe the positive impact that music has had on our kids’ lives. It has helped shape them into the adults they are today. Ryan Quinn began drumming with Greg Hipskind before he opened QC Rock Academy. It was so amazing to see QCRA come to fruition and grow over the years. As Katie Quinn decided to join in the fun with guitar lessons, we began our lives as ‘roadie’ parents, always up for the next meet and greet, gig, or evenings spent at QCRA with Greg and Billy Gardner Jr for lessons. Our hearts are broken for Greg’s family and friends.”
QCRA offers lessons in voice, guitar, drums, keyboard, bass, ukulele and band performance.
Jake Ott wrote that Hipskind “was a pillar of our community. His contribution to the present and future of music in our region is immeasurable, and the legacy of his work will continue to bear fruit for many years as his students grow into the great musicians and performers he helped them become.”
Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls were inducted in the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Pictured are (L-R) Greg Hipskind, Leo Kelly, Liz Treiber, Robert Chaney and Bob Kelly.
On Sunday, Wicked Liz & The Bellyswirls posted on its Facebook:
“Guys, horrible news, we are heartbroken, passing along post from Jenny Hipskind:
“I am devastated to share the unexpected loss of the love of my life and the girls’ Daddy, Greg Hipskind. There are so many amazing things to write about him, but for now, I am just too stunned. I know he was so loved, as we’ve already seen an amazing outpouring of support. Arrangements will be announced soon, thank you for your continued prayers.”
The band (fronted by Elizabeth Treiber) last Labor Day weekend was inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association Hall of Fame in Arnolds Park, Iowa. They have played over 1,200 shows across 25 years, including nine appearances at Milwaukee’s Summerfest.
See their 2025 Hall of Fame induction ceremony HERE.
An ideal role model and friend
Band bassist Bob Kelly and his brother Leo (lead guitar) both treasured their time with Greg. They had just seen him shortly before New Year’s at the Rock Academy, which recently underwent needed remodeling, including new carpeting and newly painted walls.
Bob originally met Greg first in 1998, when the drummer was taking lessons from Terry Hanson at the old McKay Music in Davenport.
“Leo and Liz and I had practiced, in Davenport, and we were looking for a drummer,” Bob said Monday, noting the three of them had graduated from Davenport Assumption, where the Kellys’ brother Jerry was Cowardly Lion in a “Wizard of Oz” high school production, and Liz played Dorothy.
Greg was a Moline High alum, older than Liz but younger than Bob – “the middle child, the peacemaker,” Bob recalled.
“If anyone I know was lucky enough to have a friend like Greg Hipskind, I assume they’ve won the lottery of life,” he said Monday. “He was a person who’d go out of his way to look out for his friends, a person who adored his wife and kids. He was just an amazing friend. He knew how to console you during difficult times, knew how to celebrate with you during happy times.
Greg Hipskind and his wife Jenny, who is managing editor at WQAD-TV.
“I am trying to picture life without my friend, and it’s hard to imagine,” Bob said. “It’s a huge loss for the young people, the students. The amount of joy this guy could bring to his students, to his bandmates, and his audiences was just amazing.”
The 2025 Iowa Rock Hall induction for their band was due partly to Hipskind.
“Greg knows a lot of people on the committee,” Bob Kelly said, and Leo noted that was the second year they were nominated. “Greg would have been the wheels, made the connections.”
“He has met so many people, knows so many people,” Leo said. “He took kids over to meet bands at The MARK and Adler.” Leo loved Cheap Trick, and got to meet them twice, through Greg.
Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls performed over the Labor Day 2025 weekend in Arnolds Park, Iowa, as they were inducted in the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
“He wanted to go play for people, meet people, and was excited to do stuff,” Leo said. “He just was a sociable dude who wanted to play the drums. We were lucky to have someone like that, from all the celebrity musicians that come through, he was not afraid to make a phone call.”
Bob said starting the Rock Academy was a big, successful undertaking. Hipskind loved to watch the musical growth of students.
“He would see people come out of their shells,” he said. “He’d introduce them, this little kid, not that confident, and then six months, a year later, you’d run into them, and he’d be excited to tell you all the ways they were progressing. The progression in their instrument, and also progression in their self-confidence, that you could learn how to do something.”
Helping his daughters cope
Treiber (who also has two daughters) spent much of Monday with the Hipskind girls, who were off of school. “They’re so smart, the perfect mix of their mom and dad,” she said Monday night. “It’s just heartbreaking and stunning.”
Treiber last saw the Hipskinds at the end of November and was supposed to be back for Greg’s 49th birthday Dec. 12, but didn’t get that chance.
“He did so much. It’s hard to believe when we started this band, we were recently out of high school,” she said. “I’m so proud of everything he’s done. Everybody’s going to talk about everything he did with music, but everything he’s done as a father, so amazing, he was so hands on.”
“His influence lives on,” Treiber said. “He lives on in his daughters; they are so much like him. They have his best qualities and their mother’s as well. Jenny I can’t say enough wonderful things about her. She’s a saint. She’s so cool. Three cheers for Jenny.”
The last time their band played together was at the Iowa Rock Hall induction.
“I’m so thankful we got to do that as a band, together,” Treiber said. “It feels kind of surreal, like what we do matters to anyone but us. We get to have fun, do something we love, get paid for it most of the time, and we’re being honored for it.
“Our kids, grandkids can go there and say, there’s grandma and grandpa, they were rock and rollers before rolling around in a wheelchair,” she joked. “It’s cool, and it’s humbling. It’s easy to get in your head, start to think, what I’m doing matters to other people – it helps other people, brings joy to their life, and all of us can only hope a fraction of the difference Greg has made, we can make in someone’s life.”
Greg Hipskind, a Moline High alum who was a longtime drummer, teacher and director of QC Rock Academy, died of a heart attack at age 49 on Jan. 2, 2026.
Treiber’s younger daughter (a PV High School sophomore) was in one of the Rock Academy bands, coached by Hipskind.
“Imagine the band of five teenage girls, and my daughter was like, Greg handled it like it was no big deal,” she recalled. “He helped anyone who had a bad day. He had a way of making us smile.”
“He really encouraged all of them to stay positive for each other, check on each other,” Treiber said. “They loved him, he loved them. They could joke around, it was a beautiful thing to see him with his students.
“My daughter spent more time with him than her actual uncles,” she added, noting both playing and teaching brought out the best in Hipskind. “He was just so happy to be able to do music, one way or the other.”
Treiber (who also was at their house Saturday) was able to help the girls cope with their loss partly because her father passed away a few years ago. On Monday, they went to the mall, had lunch, and had fun together.
“He’s always going to be with them. This community is always going to be here to remind them of all these great stories we have, all the people he helped, all of the dreams he helped make reality,” Treiber said of Greg and his girls. “We had a good time today, just walked around the mall, laughed, looked at silly stores.
“That’ my job, I’ve always been the entertainer,” she said. “Don’t think about life for a few hours, just let me distract you and hopefully, not worry.”
His profound loss will not stop Wicked Liz from playing together, Treiber concluded.
“I can’t imagine not playing, because we lost Greg,” she said “Greg would want us to play. Greg was like, everyone in the band, we’re like a family. Everybody has bad days, but Greg always was like that positive, ‘you can do this,’ never showed up in a bad mood, never acted like a diva. I could not say the same.”
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