Elliott Smith R.I.P.

Suicide allegedly.

http://www.sweetadeline.net/

From ElliottSmith.com


Steven Paul (Elliott) Smith. August 6, 1969 - October 21, 2003.

Elliott Smith was born on August 6, 1969 in Omaha, Nebraska. Elliott spent his childhood near Dallas, Texas where he began his musical training at the age of nine, winning a local award for original composition at the age of ten.

Elliott relocated to Portland, Oregon as a Sophomore at Lincoln High School where he was achieved the rank of National Merit Scholar. During his time at Lincoln High School, Elliott joined the band "Stranger Than Fiction" in which he composed music and performed until his graduation in 1987.

Elliott later attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he majored in Philosophy and Political Science.

During his time at Hampshire, Elliott, known then as Elliott Stillwater Rotter, co-founded the band "A Murder of Crows". He later became a member of well know band "Heatmiser". It was during this time that Elliott began to release music as a solo artist.

During his lifetime, Elliott released five full-length albums as a solo artist as well as a number of singles. Elliott was nominated for an Academy Award for "Miss Misery", his musical contribution to the Academy Award winning movie, "Good Will Hunting".

At the time of his death, Elliott was recording his sixth album, "From A Basement on the Hill".

Elliott is survived by a host of family, friends and fans. :confused:

The word so far is that he stabbed himself in the heart. Nothing official as of yet though. Quite sad. A real loss for all of us.

np: XO

this is indeed a great lose. i was a bit late in getting into elliot smith and his songwriting talents will be missed.

he battled addiction after addiction so he was not good off really ever so he probably couldn't take it any longer. it is sad, but man… that guy had it bad from the start.

big up's to him, he was a great songwriter.

I can't find anything on the web about this, can anyone post a link?

I'm devastated. Rest well, Elliott,

That's really tragic. He will be missed. :(

Real sad sad news. I'm definately a fan of his music….XO is the only record I have, but I have a few friends who are RABID fans. They surely will be seriously depressed over this. RIP.

Wow, my brother just told me. I was wondering why KEXP just played a 6 song set of his stuff. Such a shame, I know he was having a hard time with drug addiction and I was really looking forward to seeing him do great things. Truely sad.

i am heartbroken to know he will not continue to create his wonderful wonderful music. i saw him in charlottesville in 2000 and i wept thru the show because it was the most stunningly beautiful music i had ever heard. his voice was angelic. i will miss him greatly, as will everyone.

I think it's safe to say that this is one of those moments when I feel as though everything around me completely stops, I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me, and grief, anger, and sorrow override every other emotion in my mind. Elliott Smith did something for me which I think any truly great artist or musician does…he made me see beauty, he was there with me while I experienced happiness and joy and sadness…but he wrote songs that could have been a soundtrack to my life. When I was falling in love, "Figure 8" had come out and I took a trip to Montreal. It was one of the happiest times of my life and Elliott's music brings me right back to that moment of discovery and possibility. When my father died, I remember flying home to Chicago and listening to some of the stuff off "XO" and "Either/Or", bawling my eyes out, knowing that Elliott could easily understand loss and pain. And for me Elliott was never about just misery. When Elliott wrote a song, it was almost as if he was the first person that ever truly felt those certain kinds of emotions…his voice and music was so honest, so absolute, and so expressive. When I was 5 years old, the Beatles were my favorite band…and John Lennon died. I went to school, knowing full well that none of the other kids could understand why I was so sad. 23 years later I am right back to where I was when I was 5…I feel like the world around me continues on, but I cannot keep up today. One of the most talented souls I've ever known of has become an Ian Curtis. This is just one of those days where I have to stop and try to make sense of something that will NEVER make sense to me. What a loss.

wow. what a loss. he was incredible.

Aw, no! What sad, sad news. And what a loss to everyone. I am very sorry I never got to see him live.

Originally posted by kurosawa-b/w:
Aw, no! What sad, sad news. And what a loss to everyone. I am very sorry I never got to see him live.

Now noone ever will again…..What ever will i do?

All your sadness and sympathy should be directed to his family and friends. If in fact he did commit suicide then mission accomplished on his behalf.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but I firmly believe that those who kill themselves don't deserve sympathy because they took a cowards way out with no consideration whatsoever for those they left behind.

Sorry, but I have my reasons for feeling strongly about the suicide issue.

Well said, mankie. While I am sad he is gone I am really angry that he decided to go out like this. Still I'll miss the music he COULD have made.

Of course I am angry too Mankie…simply put, it's not fair to anyone, most of all his family, friends, and loved ones. The selfish side of me as a fan says it's not fair to me too…but on a basic human level, the real tragedy is that another person has fallen victim to depression, and depression should be treated like a disease because that is what it is. Some of us are survivors of it, and we were fortunate to have medication and effective therapy. But no person deserves to suffer. And just because they weren't strong enough to beat the disease it also doesn't mean they deserve what they got. A tragedy is a tragedy…there are no winners here, just loss.