Mark Lanegan has died, aged 57.
A cause of death has not yet been revealed, but a statement shared via Lanegan’s Twitter account said: "Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland. A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician, he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley. No other information is available at this time."
Born in Ellensburg, Washington in 1964, Lanegan came to prominence as the lead singer for Screaming Trees, the band founded in 1985 and disbanded in 2000. The band released seven studio albums during their 15-year run, starting with 1986’s Clairvoyance. The album helped earn Screaming Trees a deal with SST Records, which released Even If And Especially When the following year. After two more albums with SST, the band signed to major label Epic Records for 1991’s Uncle Anesthesia.
Following the end of Screaming Trees, Lanegan joined Queens Of The Stone Age, working with the band in the studio and on tour. Lanegan contributed to their albums Rated R, Songs For The Deaf, Lullabies To Paralyze, Era Vulgaris and …Like Clockwork. He also played with Layne Staley of Alice In Chains and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam in the band Mad Season, and joined up with Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli to form The Gutter Twins in 2003. They released their sole album together, Saturnalia, in 2008.
There were also three collaborative albums with Isobel Campbell of Belle & Sebastian, released between 2006 and 2010, as well as collaborative work with the likes of Kurt Cobain, Manic Street Preachers, Unkle, Moby and Martina Topley-Bird, among others.
In addition to his collaborative work, Lanegan released 11 solo studio albums over the course of his career, starting with 1990’s The Winding Sheet, which included collaborations with Nirvana’s Cobain and Krist Novoselic. The most recent of Lanegan’s solo albums, Straight Songs Of Sorrow, was released in 2020.
Lanegan contracted COVID-19 in 2021, leaving him in and out of a coma for months-long stretches of the year. His memoir, Devil In A Coma, published in December, included details of his near-death experience, which included cracked ribs from a fall and a hospital stay that he said saw him plagued with recurring hallucinations.
White Rabbit Books, the UK publishing house that released his memoir, described Lanegan as "a supremely gifted performer, songwriter, artist and author," adding: "We are devastated to hear he has passed away. His art will endure and only grow in stature."
Also paying tribute, musician and friend of Lanegan’s, Anton Newcombe, said: :I am in absolute shock, a very beautiful soul has left this world. I love you brother."
