Naomi Clarke, PA Entertainment Reporter
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 Lanegan’s official Twitter account said he died at his home in Killarney, Co Kerry on Tuesday morning.
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 lanegan (@marklanegan) February 22, 2022
Describing him as a “beloved singer, songwriter, author, and musician”, it said he is “survived by his wife Shelley”.
It added: “No other information is available at this time.”
Lanegan 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.
Lanegan also featured on the 1995 album Above by Mad Season.
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.
As frontman of Screaming Trees, the 6ft 2in underground rock 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, Lanegan 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.
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.
Names from the world of music and entertainment have paid tribute to Lanegan including Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood, who reacted to the news by writing on Twitter: “Aww man, Mark Lanegan.”
Charlatans singer Tim Burgess tweeted: “Oh no. Terrible news that Mark Lanegan has left us. Safe travels man – you’ll be missed.”
