Mark Lanegan in 2018
American singer and grunge pioneer Mark Lanegan has died aged 57. The death of Lanegan, known for his collaboration with The Queens of the Stone Age and Kurt Cobain, among others, was announced on his Twitter account.
“Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland. A beloved singer, songwriter, writer and musician of 57,” the message said, with no information about the cause of death. Last year he wrote in his book Devil in a coma that in 2020 he was in hospital for months after a corona infection and even fell into a coma.
Lanegan was known for his deep voice. He began his career in 1984 as the front man for The Screaming Trees, a band that, although never gained the fame of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, is considered a pioneer of the grunge scene that emerged in the late 1980s in Seattle, USA. Washington. He started out as a drummer, but in his own words he was so incompetent that he had to become a singer.
He did not achieve great commercial success, but with seven albums with The Screaming Trees, ten solo albums and collaborations with Queens of the Stone Age and many others, he managed to build a loyal fan base. He achieved his biggest hit with Nearly Lost You† The Screaming Trees stayed together until 2000, but in the 90s Lanegan increasingly focused on his solo career.
Nearly Lost You by The Screaming Trees from 1992:
Famous artists such as Iggy Pop took to Twitter to respond to Lanegan’s passing:
