October 22, 2003

(Updated) R.I.P. Elliott Smith

Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.

He may not have been living here anymore (in fact, he left Portland the same year I moved here), but today still counts as a dark day for the Portland music scene. Elliott Smith, dead at 34:

He sustained a single stab wound to the chest that appeared to be self-inflicted, she said.
Smith's New York-based publicist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed his death.
Smith released five solo albums that received widespread acclaim from rock critics and garnered modest commercial success. His song "Miss Misery," recorded for the film "Good Will Hunting," was nominated for an Academy Award in 1998.

Only ever got to see him perform live once, at the Crystal Ballroom. It was the night of the Starlight Parade, which we had to break across in order to get to the show. Given the festival we were in the midst of, he made us wait all the way until the end of the show before he performed the proper song.

See also the eulogy and obituary at Sweet Adeline.

October 22, 2003

Update

What various sources are writing about this can be tracked via this search results page from Google News.

October 22, 2003

Update

Rolling Stone has their profile up.

October 22, 2003

Update

If you can get through at all, there's also a note up at here.

October 23, 2003

Update

Today's Oregonian ran a front-page story on Elliott Smith's death. Probably the most prominent attention he ever got in the paper.

Posted at 09:51 AM | PermalinkComments (3) | TrackBacks (1)
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Comments (3)

  1. Matt on 22 Oct 2003

    I am dumbfounded. My copy of either/or is in reach from my computer chair, so I put it on. What a lousy couple of days.

  2. The One True b!X on 22 Oct 2003

    And, of course, it's a little un-nerving that he's dead at an age I will become three days from now.

  3. Anna on 22 Oct 2003

    All day today I walked around my college campus, looking at people's faces to see if anyone had heard, or if anyone cared. I wish I was back in Portland...If there's any sort of a organized mourning, someone tell me what it's like: LizzyFHS@hotmail.com

Trackbacks (1)

  1. Miss Misery, Indeed on 22 Oct 2003

    Elliott Smith has died at his own hand. I saw Elliott Smith more than once to say the least, including...