Singer/Songwriter Elliott Smith Dies in Apparent Suicide

[TexasStooge]

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Singer/songwriter Elliott Smith died Tuesday following an apparent suicide bid in his Los Angeles apartment, an L.A. County Coroner's Office spokesman said.

Smith, 34, was pronounced dead Tuesday afternoon at Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Center. An apparent self-inflicted knife wound was found on the body, which will be examined Wednesday by the coroner's office.

Smith battled drug addiction for several years and frequently sang about the subject through a series of acclaimed albums for the Kill Rock Stars and DreamWorks labels. "Miss Misery," his contribution to the 1997 film "Good Will Hunting," was nominated for the best song Oscar.

The artist had been working on a new studio album for DreamWorks, "From a Basement on the Hill," but the project had been on and off the label's release schedule for some time. Smith recently issued a two-song single on the independent Suicide Squeeze label; the limited edition run of 5,000 copies quickly sold out.

Over the past year, he returned to performing live, but the shows were often erratic, leading some to believe that Smith was again battling addiction.

Smith was slated to perform next month at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Los Angeles.

Reuters/Billboard