, the versatile rock musician and Screaming Trees singer, died Tuesday of unspecified causes at his home in Killarney, Ireland.
His death was announced in a from Lanegan's official account:
"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. We ask: Please respect the family's privacy."
Lanegan — born Nov. 25, 1964 in Ellensburg, Wash. — had a rumbling rasp in his voice that could convey the weight of the world. From the mid-'80s to 2000, that voice led Screaming Trees, the hard-charging, psychedelic-rock band that got picked up in Seattle's . The band would have varying chart successes throughout its tumultuous career, most notably producing the alternative-rock radio staple "Nearly Lost You," which was featured on the soundtrack to the 1992 Cameron Crowe film Singles and the band's sixth LP, Sweet Oblivion. Lanegan was also a member of Mad Season, the Seattle band featuring 's Mike McCready, ' Layne Staley, Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin and John Baker Saunders.
Between albums for Screaming Trees, Lanegan began writing and recording solo efforts, starting with an aborted covers project with . The Winding Sheet, released in 1990, showcased a stripped-down sound, leaning into the blues influence that would wind through Lanegan's career like a briar patch. The distinction between Screaming Trees and his solo music became more crucial after Cobain's death, in 1994. "To continue on in music, I had to distance myself from the whole Seattle thing," Lanegan told in 2020. "I had to keep it at arm's length to avoid being known as this ex-grunge, drug-addict singer who never made it."
Since the break-up of Screaming Trees in 2000, Lanegan proved to be voracious in his collaborators and styles. He was a member of for over a decade, made music with former singer , formed with singer Greg Dulli, released two albums with multi-instrumentalist Duke Garwood, guested on tracks by , , , Cult of Luna, Unkle — a list that grows richer the deeper you dig into the catalog.
Lanegan was also the author of three books. In 2017, he published I Am the Wolf: Lyrics & Writings, featuring his musings on various lyrics throughout his career; his 2020 memoir, Sing Backwards and Weep, is a stark portrait of a musician looking back on a hard life and the lives hurt; and just last year, Devil in a Coma rendered his experience contracting COVID-19 in terrifying prose and poetry. "Apparently my light had almost gone out permanently more than once, according to the doctors and nurses," he shared in an .
For someone who worried about his place in music, Mark Lanegan sure made every note ring louder than the last, even if it was a crooning whisper. In a 2013 piece looking at Lanegan's renewed creative peak, NPR Music critic and correspondent : "This man doesn't have to worry about being forgotten."
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