The New York Times confirmed on Friday that singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt has indeed passed away at the age of 45, following a brief coma that was the result of an overdose on muscle relaxers earlier this week. Family spokesperson, Jem Cohen, did not specify if the overdose was intentional but Chesnutt, a paraplegic who often sang about death, had admitted in interviews that he had attempted suicide several times before. A tweet written on Thursday morning by his good friend and long-time collaborator, Kristen Hersh, states in part, "this time, he left a note."
Entrenched in the Athens, Ga. music scene, Chesnutt was a songwriter’s songwriter; he first earned the admiration of R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe in the late ’80s and since then was praised by countless other notable songwriters and musicians, many of which eventually collaborated with him. His most recent band included members of Fugazi, Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra, but over the years he collaborated with members of Widespread Panic, Cracker, Lambchop, Throwing Muses, M. Ward, Cowboy Junkies and many more.
