Mark Lanegan, singer of the grunge band Screaming Trees, has died aged 57.
The musician was also a member of rock bands Queens Of The Stone Age and The Gutter Twins, and collaborated with artists such as Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.
A statement posted on Mark’s official Twitter account said he died at his home in Killarney, Ireland, on Tuesday morning.
The statement reads: “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. We ask Please respect the family privacy.”
Mark joined Screaming Trees in the 1980s and went on to produce eight studio albums until the group’s split in 2000.
He first appeared on Queens of the Stone Age’s Rated R album in 2000 and lent his voice and songwriting talent to several songs.
He later formed The Gutter Twins with Afghan Whigs vocalist Greg Dulli. The musician also featured on the 1995 album Above by Mad Season.
As frontman of Screaming Trees, the 6ft 2in star produced some of the genre’s most psychedelic and experimental music.
Formed in 1985, their commercial breakthrough came with the release of 1992’s Sweet Oblivion, which was buoyed by the popularity of grunge bedfellows such as Nirvana.
The album birthed their biggest single, the soaring Nearly Lost You.
When they disbanded in 2000 amid creative differences, Mark went on to establish himself as a varied and successful solo artist, working under numerous aliases and with artists including English multi-instrumentalist Duke Garwood and cellist Isobel Campbell.
In 2020, he published a “no holds barred” memoir called Sing Backwards And Weep, in which the musician covered everything from “addiction to touring, petty crime, homelessness and the tragic deaths of his closest friends”, among them Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley.
Last year saw him publish another book, a memoir called Devil In A Coma, in which he detailed his battle with Covid-19. In an excerpt from the book, published by The Guardian, he told of being placed in a medically induced coma while in hospital in County Kerry, Ireland.
An excerpt says: “From the moment I was brought out of my chemically induced sleep and was told what had happened and where I had been, I was determined to survive this nightmare, even though I had very little say, actually, no say in the matter, and had zero ammo to fight with.”
Speaking to the PA News Agency about his book and friends, he said in 2020: “I think about them both a lot. And the book actually restarted that thought process all over again.
“I kind of made peace with a lot of that stuff but it doesn’t mean you stop thinking about those guys or stop missing them or stop loving them.”
His last album, Straight Songs Of Sorrow, arrived to critical acclaim in 2020.
Throughout his career he collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Massive Attack, Moby, Pearl Jam, the Eagles of Death Metal and more.
Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel has led tributes to his former bandmate and “big brother”.
Killarney councillor and publican Niall O’Callaghan said people in the town were saddened to learn of Mark’s death.
He told the PA news agency: “On behalf of Killarney and the people, we would like to sincerely send our condolences to the family of Mr Lanegan.
“We are all in the town saddened to learn of the untimely death. Killarney is a small town and we all know each other; it’s a tight-knit community.
“It is a sad day for the town when you lose anyone who lived here. For a man of the stature of Mark Lanegan, it was a real honour that he choose to live in Killarney.”